Mercer sues ex-advisors over $90M client poaching allegations

Mercer Global Advisors is suing its former advisors Ryan Malec and David Weitz, alleging that the duo stole client lists and data to transfer approximately $90 million in assets under management upon launching their Atlanta-based RIA, Unified Investment Management.

The civil lawsuit, filed May 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, comes two years after Malec and Weitz resigned from Mercer in March 2023. Denver-based Mercer is seeking unspecified monetary relief against the advisors, who allegedly broke the terms of their employee agreement with Mercer through improperly soliciting clients to their new firm.

A spokesperson for Mercer which manages $71 billion in AUM as one the industry’s largest RIAs, told InvestmentNews it recently moved its lawsuit from state court to federal court in order to “expedite resolution of its dispute.” News of the lawsuit was first reported by Citywire. Unified Investment Management, which is listed as a defendant alongside Malec and Weitz, manages about $136 million across 255 client accounts, per its latest form ADV from February 2025.

The law firm McDermott Will & Emery is representing Mercer, which claims Malec and Weitz to have “delinked” client accounts from Mercer. 

"On or about April 4, 2023, Mercer learned that the financial accounts of several of Mercer’s clients had been “delinked” from Mercer by an unknown third party. When an account is delinked, Mercer personnel can no longer manage the account for the associated client,” reads the lawsuit. 

“Mercer Advisors rightfully defends itself against violations of agreements, responsibilities, and codes of conduct that parties have willingly accepted as part of their employment with the company,” Mercer said in a statement. “We do not comment on details of litigation.”

Malex and Weitz were formerly employees of ACG Wealth, at Atlanta RIA that managed $1.3 billion when Mercer bought the firm in late 2021. Mercer also has a separate ongoing lawsuit against Jeffrey Shaver and Jody Young, the founders of ACG Wealth. 

Mercer announced this month it has surpassed the 100-deal milestone, but its feud with Malex, Weitz and ACG Wealth points to the cautionary side of expansion through M&A deals. Mercer’s M&A principal Martine Lellis told InvestmentNews last month that she was noticing “more and more teams that want to continue to grow rather than just being a straight succession play" as a growing factor in Mercer’s expansion moves.