Fortrend Securities boss Joe Forster made ‘outrageous’ campaign against staff poached by Shaw and Partners

Fortrend Securities boss Joe Forster has been dealt a double blow in two cases against former staff, now at rival firm Shaw and Partners.

Fortrend Securities boss Joe Forster, left, pictured last year outside the Federal Court in Melbourne. Picture: Newswire/Nicki Connolly

Two Shaw and Partners brokers have won two cases against their former employer, Melbourne-based trading house Fortrend Securities, with a court finding their former boss engaged in an “outrageous” campaign to attack their reputation before current and former clients.

In the Federal Court on Friday, Justice David O’Callaghan found Christopher Wollermann and Stephen Lyle did not misuse confidential information when they left Fortrend in December 2022.

Justice O’Callaghan also found Fortrend and its boss Joe Forster engaged in a years-long campaign to underpay the two men, wrongly garnishing their wages to pay for travel and work expenses in breach of the law.

The marathon court fight came after Mr Forster first lodged action against Mr Wollermann and Mr Lyle in 2023, alleging their defection to rival trading house Shaw and Partners cost his Melbourne firm millions.

Fortrend Securities specialises in offering US securities to local investors.

A number of Fortrend clients made moves to transfer their holdings to the rival firm Shaw and Partners after Mr Lyle and Mr Wollerman contacted them.

Shaw and Partners senior portfolio managers Stephen Lyle and Christopher Wollermann.

Both Mr Lyle and Mr Wollermann admitted that prior to leaving Fortrend they’d made a ranking of clients at the firm, but had not made a log of the values of their actual holdings.

These rankings informed their efforts at Shaw and Partners as they contacted former clients.

Both men had worked for ­Fortrend for years before joining the rival brokering business, with Mr Lyle joining in 2012, while Mr Wollermann joined in 2009.

Fortrend claimed 43 clients had left the firm in the wake of Mr Lyle and Mr Wollermann’s departure, representing about $28m in assets.

Justice O’Callaghan found the ranking of clients fell outside Fortrend’s pleaded case that the two men had engaged in a concerted campaign to pilfer confidential information from the firm prior to their departure.

But he notes in any event the detailed information concerning client’s holdings would have been “readily ascertained” from their ACATS transfer forms.

“Having determined that Mr Lyle and Mr Wollermann did not use confidential information of Fortrend in breach of their duties or in breach of contract, the case against Shaw that it is liable as an accessory or was knowingly ­involved in the breach by Mr Lyle and Mr Wollermann of their ­fiduciary duties falls away,” Justice O’Callaghan found.

Fortrend secured an order blocking Shaw and Partners from poaching any more of its clients in June 2023, which expired in December that year.

Justice O’Callaghan noted lawyers for Mr Lyle and Mr Wollermann approached the judge in July 2023 concerning Mr Forster’s conduct.

They alleged the Fortrend boss had been falsely claiming the pair had engaged in criminal conduct and conduct “that has resulted in them being banned from providing financial advice”.

The conduct included making social media posts featuring pictures of graveyards, directed at Shaw and Partners, as well as making false reports to US regulators concerning Mr Lyle.

The court also heard Mr Forster impersonated both Mr Wollermann and Mr Lyle, using their email addresses and phone numbers in a bid to obtain information from clients transferring to Shaw and Partners.

Justice O’Callaghan said that despite Mr Forster undertaking to stop the behaviour, the actions continued.

He said that even if he’d found in favour of Fortrend there was a strong case to deny any relief “because of Mr Forster’s outrageous conduct”.

Joe Forster, managing director of Fortrend Securities in Melbourne.

In addition, Justice O’Callaghan found Mr Forster’s company had wrongly garnished the two men’s wages and withheld entitlements when they left his firm, ordering Fortrend to pay Mr Lyle $109,254 and Mr Wollermann $136,211.

The two matters are now set down for further hearings, which will likely see Fortrend forced to pay for much of the legal costs in both matters, expected to run into the millions of dollars.

Shaw and Partners boss Earl Evans said the firm had supported its brokers, given it had been “always confident in our position”.

Mr Forster, when contacted by The Australian, declined to reveal if he would seek to appeal the ­findings.

Instead he subjected this publication to a barrage of abuse.

“Why would anyone employ anyone in this f--king country – and if you quote me on that I’ll call you a f--king liar,” he said.

Mr Forster later sent The Australian an email titled “Capitalism vs Communism” detailing views on property rights being central to Australia’s capitalist economy.

“Secure property rights promote investment, economic growth, and stability, aligning closely with capitalist principles,” he said.

“Australian property rights are supposed to support and strengthen capitalism by providing security, predictability, and a foun­dation for economic activity.”

Mr Forster has contacted The Australian on a number of occasions throughout the court proceedings.

This included filming and sending a clip from 1971 action film Dirty Harry in which the main character fires his 44-Magnum at the screen.

In another late-night barrage of messages, Mr Forster said Australian culture “is so amateurish and girlish”, noting he was not subject to any investigation by the corporate regulator.

Mr Forster, a former investment banker with Merrill Lynch Australia, set up Fortrend in 1992.

However, the court case ­involving the businessman revealed he took repeated breaks from running the business, including attempting to launch a blockchain business in 2014, that saw him stay in the US for several months.

During this time Mr Forster spent a considerable amount of time writing a movie screenplay, which he attempted to shop around to several studios in ­Hollywood.

Originally published as Fortrend Securities boss Joe Forster made ‘outrageous’ campaign against staff poached by Shaw and Partners