CHICAGO -- Donald B. Trone has filed a breach of contract suit against his former employer, Callan Associates Inc., San Francisco.
Mr. Trone was hired by Callan in 1992. He brought with him a company he founded in 1991, Investment Management Council. IMC provided smaller, independent investment management consultants with consulting support services.
Mr. Trone said Callan promised the same level of support for IMC consultants given to Callan in-house consultants, but that support never materialized.
Mr. Trone and Callan management also clashed over education and training issues. Eventually, Mr. Trone said, he was forced out of the company over these issues.
He is suing Callan in California for breach of contract over "everything," Mr. Trone said, but most particularly because when he brought the IMC to Callan, he was promised it would remain a separate division within the company. If the partnership did not work out and he left, Mr. Trone said he was promised he would be able to take the company away intact, including clients. That did not happen, he said.
Dave Bonnette, an executive vice president at Callan, said: "As a matter of long-standing company policy, Callan does not discuss nor comment on personnel policy."
Mr. Trone has reorganized IMC as a private company. He said about 30% of IMC's clients followed him when he left Callan and between 20% and 30% others have expressed interest.
Also, Mr. Trone and Roger C. Gibson, president of Gibson Capital Management, have formed the university-based Center for Fiduciary Studies, a research and training institute. The two have pared finalists to six or so universities, Mr. Trone said.
The center will provide investment management and fiduciary education.
