Raw source

Date: 2026-09-11
Title: Re: FORMAL NOTICE:  Unresolved overcharging issue since 2018 (Brandon Drespling to Raya and Rob Zakir, 10:39 AM ET)
Source: mail:///messages/AAMkAGE2Nzc1MTNkLTA2MDUtNDc4MC1hNDg4LTcwZDk4OTg5NzU2MwBGAAAAAACzaNa_9qnVRYNdYXfKyCC_BwAGiQQE9_gzSoKwwf79iYOuAAAAAAEMAAAGiQQE9_gzSoKwwf79iYOuAALAT3J7AAA=
What this is: email body as read through the Microsoft 365 connector, HTML stripped to text. Includes the quoted thread beneath (Brandon 2026-09-07, Derek 2026-09-03, Raya 2026-09-02), which is already logged in earlier records.

From: Brandon Drespling <brandond@triumphcapitalmanagement.com>
To: Raya Zakir <raya@olivesd.com>; Rob Zakir <rob@olivesd.com>
Cc: Jeffrey Thomas <jt@triumphcapitalmanagement.com>; Derek N. Eichenwald <dereke@triumphcapitalmanagement.com>
Sent: 2026-09-11 14:39:49Z (10:39 AM ET)
Message-Id: <PH7PR02MB100260AF0745C8E92E221C40CB5BE2@PH7PR02MB10026.namprd02.prod.outlook.com>

Hello Raya and Rob,

Thank you for your patience.  

We've completed our internal review, and I think it would be beneficial for everyone to have a brief discussion about the portfolio, historical timeline, and associated fees. 

Would you be available for a quick phone call later this morning or early this afternoon?  Next week works as well if that's more convenient for you.   

Please let me know what works best, and the number to reach you at. 

Thank you, 

Brandon Drespling
President, Triumph Capital Management
Main: 720-399-5555 | Direct: 720-399-5552 | Cell: 720-257-8251

www.TriumphCapitalManagement.com

1610 Wynkoop Street, Suite 550, Denver, CO 80202

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Advisory services offered through Triumph Capital Management, a registered investment advisor.

This e-mail and any attachments thereto, is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by e-mail (by replying to this message) or telephone (noted above) and permanently delete the original and any copy of any e-mail and any printout thereof.  Thank you for your cooperation with respect to this matter.

From: Brandon Drespling <brandond@triumphcapitalmanagement.com>
Sent: Monday, September 7, 2026 9:53 AM
To: Raya Zakir <raya@olivesd.com>; Rob Zakir <rob@olivesd.com>
Cc: Jeffrey Thomas <jt@triumphcapitalmanagement.com>; Derek N. Eichenwald <dereke@triumphcapitalmanagement.com>
Subject: Re: FORMAL NOTICE: Unresolved overcharging issue since 2018  

Hello Raya and Rob,

I wanted to confirm that your email has been received and that I am personally reviewing the matter alongside our Compliance Department.   

We take your concerns very seriously and have already begun a detailed review of the fees charged to your accounts, including the applicable advisory agreement and our internal records. 

Once our review is complete, we will provide you with the information you requested, along with the results of our review, an appropriate resolution, and next steps.  This is a top priority, and we will complete our review as promptly as possible.  

In the meantime, please feel free to contact me directly with any additional questions or information you believe may be relevant.  My contact information is included below. 

Thank you,

Brandon Drespling
President, Triumph Capital Management
Main: 720-399-5555 | Direct: 720-399-5552 | Cell: 720-257-8251

www.TriumphCapitalManagement.com

1610 Wynkoop Street, Suite 550, Denver, CO 80202

Schedule Call
Schedule Zoom
Secure Upload

Advisory services offered through Triumph Capital Management, a registered investment advisor.

This e-mail and any attachments thereto, is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by e-mail (by replying to this message) or telephone (noted above) and permanently delete the original and any copy of any e-mail and any printout thereof.  Thank you for your cooperation with respect to this matter.

From: Derek N. Eichenwald <dereke@triumphcapitalmanagement.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 3, 2026 10:14 AM
To: Raya Zakir <raya@olivesd.com>
Cc: Rob Zakir <rob@olivesd.com>; Brandon Drespling <brandond@triumphcapitalmanagement.com>; Jeffrey Thomas <jt@triumphcapitalmanagement.com>
Subject: Re: FORMAL NOTICE: Unresolved overcharging issue since 2018  

Raya and Rob,
Thank you for putting this in writing. I want to answer it the same way — directly, and with dates I will keep.
The most important thing first: signing the revised 1% agreement did not resolve the historical question, and I have not treated it as though it did. The new rate governs what you pay going forward. It does not settle whether you were billed correctly from 2018 forward. That review is open, it is separate, and I am committed to finishing it and crediting back anything that is owed.
I also owe you an apology for the pace. You raised this in July, again on August 13, and again on August 24, and each time you got an interim answer instead of a finished one. That is on me, and you were right to escalate it to writing.

WHERE THE WORK ACTUALLY STANDS: 
I have already pulled and compiled the underlying record for your accounts covering January 1, 2018 through September 2, 2026:
Annual performance reports for each year, 2018 through 2026 year-to-date
A since-inception performance report for the full period
A complete fee report showing every fee debit, by account and by date
A complete transaction report for the same period
I am deliberately not sending these to you piecemeal today. Raw reports without the analysis that explains them are what got us here — you would be looking at the same numbers you already have, with no reconciliation attached. You will receive them together with your agreements and disclosures, as one organized package, on the date below.

WHAT I STILL HAVE TO RECONSTRUCT, AND WHY: 
Your accounts have not sat in one place for these nine years. Over that period they have been held under three different firms — JP Turner, Cetera/Summit, and Triumph Capital Management — and at two different custodians, TD Ameritrade and then Schwab. Each transition changed the billing system, the fee schedule of record, and the format of the underlying records.
There is a second factor, and I believe it explains most of what you are seeing. You had both a defined benefit plan and a 401(k). The DB plan was later rolled into the 401(k). During that period, part of what was debited from the plan accounts was not advisory fee — it went to the Third-Party Administrator for plan recordkeeping, testing and filings. That cost was bundled into the same debit instead of being billed as a separate line item, which is why the plan accounts look like they were charged well above 1%. The TPA has since been removed.
That is my working explanation, not my conclusion. I am not asking you to accept it on my word. I am telling you what I am testing, so that when the reconciliation reaches you, you can check whether the numbers actually support it.
Doing this properly means taking each debit, identifying which entity billed it, determining what it paid for, and mapping it against the fee schedule and disclosures in effect on that date across all three firms. That is the only version of this that will hold up — for you, and for anyone else who reviews it.

DATES: 
I want to be straightforward about my calendar rather than have you guess at it. I am carrying the September 15 tax filing deadline over the next twelve days. I am telling you that not as an excuse — you have heard enough of those from me — but so that the dates below are ones I can actually meet.
DATE
WHAT YOU WILL RECEIVE

Friday, September 11, 2026
The complete document package: your original Triumph client agreement and Schedule A, the revised agreement you just executed, all fee schedules, amendments and disclosures tied to both, and the four reports listed above. This is the full response to your item 1.

Friday, October 2, 2026
The complete written reconciliation: every fee charged since 2018 by account and date, mapped against the disclosed terms in effect at the time; a written explanation of each discrepancy identified; and, if amounts are owed to you, the amount, how it was calculated, and the timeline for crediting it back.

If the reconciliation shows you were overcharged, you will be reimbursed. I am not going to put a figure in this email before the work is done — a number I have to correct later would be worse than no number at all. What I will commit to is that the analysis will be specific, it will show its math, and you will be able to check it line by line.

COMPLIANCE: 
You noted that Rob asked to speak with our Compliance Officer and did not get a response. That should not have happened, and I am correcting it. Your complaint is being formally logged and referred to our Chief Compliance Officer, who will contact you directly and who is available to speak with you independently of me at any point in this process.
Brandon Drespling is on this email; he is the Chief Compliance Officer, and his phone number is 720-399-5552 

A CONVERSATION:
Rob mentioned you are generally available in the afternoon I am available tomorrow 9-4-26. What time would work for you for a call and what number shall I call?  

PERSONALLY: 
Raya, the last part of your email is the part I have read the most times. You came to me through Moe and through family, and you extended trust on that basis. That matters to me, and the way this has been handled has not honored it. I am not asking you to withdraw anything or to wait indefinitely. I am asking you to let the work above get done and put in front of you, so that whatever you decide next, you are deciding it with the complete record in hand.
You are entitled to pursue any avenue you think appropriate, and nothing here is intended to discourage that. But I would rather earn my way back with you than have this settled by someone else.
Thank You 

Derek N. Eichenwald

Chief Executive Officer & Senior Investment Executive at Triumph Capital Management

Address: 1610 Wynkoop Street, Suite 550. Denver, CO 80202

Phone: 720-399-5551 

Email: DerekE@TriumphCapitalManagement.com 

Website: www.TriumphCapitalManagement.com

_____________________________________________

Executive Assistants: Of Derek N. Eichenwald

Jamar Anderson: 720-598-9253, JamarA@TriumphCapitalManagement.com

Hannah Ferguson: 720-399-5555, HannahF@TriumphCapitalManagement.com

"One of the funny things about the stock market is that every time one person buys, another sells, and both think they are astute." - William Feather.

Advisory services are offered through Triumph Capital Management, a registered investment advisor, SEC#282814. Insurance Services are offered through Triumph Capital, LLC #619821. Notice of Confidentiality: This e-mail and any attachments thereto are intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and confidential information. Suppose you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail. The Five Star Wealth Manager Award is administered by Crescendo Business Services, LLC (dba Five Star Professional), based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria - required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively registered as a registered investment adviser or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by Five Star Professional, the wealth manager has not: A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a registration being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and a total of five settled, pending, dismissed, or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or Five Star Professional's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through Five Star Professional's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria - considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. The number of client households served: 10. Education and professional designations. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth managers. The award does not evaluate the quality of services provided to clients. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager does not ensure that a client or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance or results. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager Award list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by any client, nor are they representative of any one client's evaluation. The Five-Star award is not indicative of the wealth manager's future performance. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by Five Star Professional in the future. For more information on the Five Star award and the research/selection methodology, go to www.fivestarprofessional.com. Listing in this publication and award is not a guarantee of future experiences and results, and should not be construed as an endorsement of the advisor or firm by any client.

Book time to meet with me 

From: Raya Zakir <raya@olivesd.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 2, 2026 8:44 PM
To: Derek N. Eichenwald <dereke@triumphcapitalmanagement.com>
Cc: Rob Zakir <rob@olivesd.com>
Subject: FORMAL NOTICE: Unresolved overcharging issue since 2018  

Derek, 

I’m writing to formally document an ongoing issue regarding fees charged on our account that I believe have been incorrect since 2018.

I want to be direct about the context here. I came to you on a personal recommendation, and I trusted you with my finances on that basis. Rob and I raised concerns about overcharging with you on multiple occasions over the last few months, and each time we were told the matter was “under investigation,” with no documentation or resolution provided.

A few days ago, you sent me a new agreement reflecting a lower fee rate, which I signed in good faith.

I want to be clear about what that signature meant on my end: I understood it as a step toward making things right, with the expectation that the overcharges from 2018 to now would still be reconciled and reimbursed — not as a resolution of that issue on its own. Lowering my rate going forward does not address what I was already overcharged.

At this point, I need the following by end of day Friday (9/4/26).

        1.      A copy of my original advisory agreement, the new agreement I just signed, and any fee schedules or disclosures tied to both, including all amendments.

        2.      A complete accounting of every fee charged on my account(s) since 2018, mapped against the disclosed terms in effect at each point in time.

        3.      A written explanation for every discrepancy identified — a specific reconciliation, not a general assurance.

        4.      A concrete plan and timeline for reimbursement of the overcharged amount.

I want to give you the opportunity to make this right directly, and I’m hopeful the new agreement reflects good intentions. But I will not treat the lower rate as a substitute for reimbursement of past overcharges, and I will not continue to accept vague reassurances in place of documentation. If I do not receive a substantive, written response by end of next week, I will escalate this matter.  I understand Rob requested to speak with your Compliance Officer to no avail.  We have no other choice but to file a complaint with FINRA / the SEC / CA securities regulator and the CO Division of Securities (DORA).  

Derek, On a personal note, I cannot express my disappointment, I came to you as Moe's family and I never thought we'd be where we are.  I don't want to engage my attorney, but will do so I have to. 

I hope you will do the right thing. 

Raya