Compliance January 18, 2023

Sports Agency Owner Charged for Allegedly Stealing Retirement Assets

The Houston-based sports agent was served a civil suit by the Department of Labor for allegedly dipping into employee retirement savings for company operations.

Reported by


The co-owner of a sports agency has been charged with a civil lawsuit alleging five counts of fiduciary breach including theft of workers’ retirement plan assets.

The co-owner of Professional Sports Planning, Inc. and trustee for the Professional Sports Planning, Inc. defined contribution profit sharing plan, Carl Poston, is alleged to have “directed the withdrawal of plan assets to be used for operating the company,” according to the compliant filed by U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh.

Walsh brought the civil lawsuit before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, according to the complaint, Walsh v. Poston et al.

“During the period from on or about October 17, 2014, through on or about May 21, 2018, defendants Carl Cardwell Poston III and Professional Sports Planning, Inc., obtained, retained, and used plan assets for non-plan uses, including funding the operation of Professional Sports Planning, Inc,” the complaint stated. 

The Houston-based Professional Sports Planning, which provides representation and negotiation services for professional athletes, did not respond to a request for comment.

The five alleged ERISA violations included:

  • Failing to operate the retirement plan solely in the best interests of participants;
  • Failing to operate the plan with necessary care, skill, prudence and diligence;
  • Engaging in transactions plan fiduciaries knew or should have known were violations of ERISA;
  • Dealing with assets of the plan in their own interests or for their own accounts; and
  • Engaging in transactions involving the plan on behalf of a party whose interests were adverse to the interests of the trust and the interests of its participants and beneficiaries.

“The fiduciaries’ violations resulted in the following plan losses: (1) $111,414.10 in plan assets that were withdrawn between October 17, 2014, and May 21, 2018, for non-plan purposes,” the complaint stated. “The fiduciaries have restored a portion of these withdrawn assets, and the remaining amount owed to the plan is $76,768.45, and (2) [l]ost opportunity costs that cannot be calculated until the plan assets are restored and distributed to the participants.”

The plaintiff is represented by Amy Hairston, trial attorney-in-charge and the Department of Labor Office of the Solicitor. It is unclear at this time who is representing Poston.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

The Markets January 18, 2023

Adviser Product Partnerships

Broadridge re-ups with IGM for broker wealth platform; Reverence Capital selects CAIS Channel for alt offerings; $25B RIA Sanctuary extends partnership with Wealthbox for client management; and more.

Reported by


Broadridge to Provide IGM With Broker Solution for Years to Come

Broadridge Financial Solutions signed a multi-year contract extension with IGM Financial Inc.’s wealth management division that will see IG Wealth Management continue to offer Broadridge’s R·Broker digital wealth platform, the firms announced in a press release.

Broadridge will continue providing IG Wealth Management with its broker solution as the wealth management industry continues to leverage digital platforms with clients, according to Lake Success, New York-based Broadridge. The extension adds to a five-year partnership between the financial firms.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

“The Broadridge R·Broker Wealth solution provides IG with enterprise-wide benefits through streamlined operations, timely access to market product advantages and the ability to consistently offer products and services across any channel,” Karin Yorfido, general managerof global technology and Canadian operations at Broadridge, said in the release.

Winnipeg, Manitoba-based IG added that it will continue to expand its deployment of Broadridge’s capabilities, including core recordkeeping, regulatory and innovative capabilities for STP processing across currencies, dealers, regulations and jurisdictions.

Reverence Capital Selects CAIS for Alternative Wealth Channel

Investment firm Reverence Capital Partners will be adding select alternative investment strategies to CAIS’ alternative investment platform as Reverence seeks to expand and diversify its shareholder base, the firms announced in a press release.

Reverence, which specializes in private equity and structured credit, will make select funds available to thousands of registered investment advisers and investment banking divisions that use the CAIS platform to access alternative investment funds, according to the New York-based companies. The Reverence funds have undergone a third-party due diligence approval conducted by Mercer.

The addition of Reverence’s products aligns with CAIS’ goal of making alternative investment opportunities available to the independent wealth channel to ensure that financial advisers have the same access to alternatives as large institutional counterparts.

“With allocations to alternatives expected to continue rising in 2023, we believe that adding additional quality alternative products on the CAIS platform is essential to empowering advisers to gain confidence in meeting client expectations,” Matt Brown, founder and CEO of CAIS, said in the release.

Reverence participated in CAIS’ $340 million equity raise in 2022, alongside Apollo, Motive Partners, Franklin Templeton, Hamilton Lane and Stone Point Ventures. CAIS works with more than 7,400 unique advisers who oversee more than $3 trillion in network assets, and CAIS has facilitated more than $20 billion in transaction volume, according to the company.

Sanctuary Wealth Chooses Wealthbox for Client Management

The Sanctuary Wealth adviser network has chosen customer relationship platform manager Wealthbox for its adviser use, according to a press release.

Sanctuary Wealth signed a multi-year agreement with Providence, Rhode Island-based Wealthbox Enterprise to use its CMR technology for internal collaboration, as well as to manage client relationships, according to the firms.

“We have been using Wealthbox for three years, and their technology has proven to have high user adoption among our existing advisers,” Jene Hoosier, head of platform strategy at Sanctuary Wealth, said in the release. “We also believe their CRM will help attract new breakaways, which aligns with our overall growth objectives.”

Sanctuary Wealth is based in Miami and has partner firms in 28 states with about $25 billion in assets under advisement.

Mako Fintech and PortfolioAid Team Up to Provide Adviser Management Platform

Mako Financial Technologies Inc. and Portfolio Aid Inc. announced in a press release a strategic partnership to expand their service offerings for financial advisers and wealth managers.

The firms will offer wealth technology solutions to streamline client workflows for onboarding, portfolio construction, account servicing and ongoing compliance management.

Toronto-based PortfolioAid provides wealth compliance technology featuring product risk ratings, trade supervision, portfolio suitability modeling and customer management tools.

“With PortfolioAid and Mako’s proven solutions, we can help advisers elevate the investor experience while reducing financial, regulatory and reputational risk for themselves and their firms,” Sam Webster, PortfolioAid CEO, said in the release.

Montreal-based Mako Fintech integrates unique operational processes and their corresponding forms into a single, unified experience all the way from the investor to the portfolio manager or introducing broker to the custodian. The firm’s platform also offers partners the ability to automate and modernize adviser and investor experiences.

“At Mako, we are relentlessly focused on eliminating tedious manual processes, freeing advisers to focus on giving great advice,” Raphael Bouskila, Mako’s founder and president, said in the release.

«