Private Executive Services

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We provide customized services supported by the broad capabilities of a global institution. Working with a limited number of clients, we are able to offer you and your family personalized attention for all aspects of your financial life, now and for future family members.

Meet the Team

The private wealth advisors with Merrill Private Wealth Management are rigorously trained to help meet your specialized needs with relationships based on trust and personalized service.

Recognition

Merrill is proud of our advisors who’ve received recognition from financial industry publications or directly from Bank of America Corporation. We believe they are setting the standard for exemplary client service.

Andrew P Kraus

Barron's "Top 1,200 Financial Advisors: State-by-State" 2009-2022
Published annually in February - March. Rankings based on data as of September 30 of the prior year.

Jeffrey M Bryan

Forbes "Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" 2018-2022
Published annually Jan- April. Rankings based on data as of June 30 of prior year.

Robert J McGinty

Barron's "Top 1,200 Financial Advisors: State-by-State" 2020-2022
Published annually in February - March. Rankings based on data as of September 30 of the prior year.

Click here to learn more about these awards

Strategies designed to help you achieve your goals

As a client of Merrill Private Wealth Management, you have access to services and resources ordinarily reserved for the world’s largest institutions. We work with individuals, families spanning multiple generations, business owners and executives. Using a goals-based wealth management approach, we put our clients at the center of every personalized strategy.

Our Approach

Our Philosophy

We believe your unique goals should be at the center of all of your financial decisions and form the foundation of your financial strategy. Because significant wealth requires customized goals-based financial strategies, we believe in building lasting relationships with a limited number of clients, taking the time to understand your most important priorities for today, tomorrow and your long-term future. Our philosophy celebrates collaboration. Working with a team of specialists, we draw on the resources and insights of a global financial institution to create strategies that reflect your aspirations for yourself and current and future generations of your family. Finally, we believe that while significant wealth brings complex challenges, our experience, passion and perspectives can help you simplify your life.

The Private Executive Services (PES) Team

Cohesive and Long-Tenured Leadership
Founded in 1993, the team's senior members have spent their entire wealth management careers at Merrill. We intentionally built our business as a team and enjoy managing it collaboratively.

Working within Merrill uniquely allows us to provide our clients with both the premier service of a boutique and the intellectual capital and resources of a global financial services firm.

Collaborative Team Structure
We assign each client a cohesive coverage team, which includes advisors, analysts and associates who focus on relationship management, financial strategy, wealth management planning, banking strategies through Bank of America, and administrative support.

We have separated our members into two internal teams - Relationship Management and Financial Strategy. This team approach allows us to emphasize our respective strengths and areas of focus and offer dedicated, pointed advice. Working within this structure, we leverage our collective proficiencies to help our clients effectively manage every financial aspect of their lives and ultimately reach their goals.

Comprehensive Relationship Management

Collectively, our relationship management team develops intimate knowledge of clients and families to help you fulfill daily needs, articulate and pursue your goals, and ultimately feel comfortable about your financial positioning.

  • We aim to help you discuss and define your family’s values in the context of responsibly stewarding wealth across generations.
  • We offer goals-based advice and guidance with an application of behavioral finance and a consideration for your entire financial picture, including trusts and estates, philanthropic vehicles and tax implications.
  • We help our clients determine appropriate asset allocation positioning and we review liquidity and cash flow needs to match clients' respective risk tolerances and preferences.
  • We provide robust materials for every client meeting, including clear and detailed performance reporting, as well as consolidated balance sheet and asset allocation reporting on all your financial assets, including non-Merrill asset data when provided.
  • At your discretion, we work with your other advisors – accountants, estate attorneys, trustees, philanthropic advisors - to coordinate efficient wealth planning strategies and share information when appropriate.
  • Among other daily administrative tasks, we will help you manage wire transfers, credit cards and checks. We work with Bank of America to diligently help keep your accounts secure from fraud, and are happy to sit with you in person to help you set up features like online banking and web bill pay.
  • We are diligent in providing detailed notes after each of our meetings and calls so that actionable items are executed promptly and client goals and preferences are well-documented.
  • As a team, we meet regularly to discuss how we can improve the exceptional service we seek to provide and how new products and technologies offered by the firm may benefit our clients. 

Our Investment Planning Team

Our Investment Planning team consists of Private Wealth Advisors and Private Wealth Analysts who work together to help ensure that our team has well-informed perspectives on market trends, economic indicators and the most current wealth management philosophies and strategies.

  • Our clients' portfolios are built with bespoke strategies in the equity, fixed income and alternative investment arenas.
  • We construct custom strategies and asset allocations based on a goals-oriented framework, leveraging the firm's capital market return expectations and always consider client preferences.
  • One of our Private Wealth Advisors has career-long experience in and focuses exclusively on the fixed income space.
  • We evaluate Merrill-approved managers using proprietary quantitative and qualitative screens, we study our current and prospective managers' philosophies, research, methodology and decision-making process and conduct over 75 review meetings each year to assess their performance and adherence to their stated mandates.
  • We manage risk through diversification across and within asset classes and review investments on a periodic basis to help ensure adherence with our mandates and discuss changes, including disciplined rebalancing, when needed.
  • We review and consider investment fees and tax implications when recommending strategies or changes, and communicate these components with our clients on a regular basis.
  • We gather for weekly meetings to discuss the changing economic environment and relevant research. We take research and reports from multiple sources to write a weekly email that we distribute to all of our team members and most of our client base (upon request).
*Some or all alternative investments may not be in the best interests for certain investors. Certain alternative investments carry significant risk and are not subject to the same regulatory oversight as mutual funds and other traditional investments. For these reasons, access to alternative investments may be limited to investors who are designated as sophisticated, high-net-worth investors.

Corporate Executives

We understand the complexities that come with your executive position and the extreme demands on your time. We can help you develop a customized strategy that your finances and compensation require. We can help with risk management strategies for your concentrated stock position while navigating complex SEC rules, trading restrictions and reporting requirements. If you’ve just been promoted and would like help evaluating your new compensation plan, or if you’re looking to develop a long-term financial strategy for you and your family — designed to enable you to live life as you want it, with reliable access to cash — we can help simplify your financial life, as well as develop new strategies as your career and goals evolve.

Private Equity and Hedge Fund Principals

Your investment expertise as a hedge fund or private equity principal has likely resulted in substantial personal success. We have experience working with a select group of individuals in your industry. Drawing on our extensive capabilities and the broad resources of a global institution, we work to help you coordinate and manage your finances with the aim of simplifying the complexities of your financial life, including wealth transfer advice and guidance from Merrill and access to the banking convenience of Bank of America for your banking, lending and trust needs. We also provide access to Bank of America for your working capital needs in support of the day-to-day needs of your business.

Company Founders, Private Business Owners & Entrepreneurs

When you have built your own business, your personal finances and the life of your company are closely intertwined. You may be thinking about how to invest in your company’s growth while also deciding how best to use your personal assets. Helping ensure the future of your business likely involves employee benefits, retirement plans and succession planning. Helping secure your family’s legacy could entail wealth transfer strategies, trusts and philanthropy. Whatever your specific needs, we at Merrill Private Wealth Management can help entrepreneurs and business owners balance their personal financial lives with their life’s work. We are dedicated in providing the experience and resources to help support your ongoing success.

A Commitment to Service

Merrill Private Wealth Management is committed to providing a select group of clients with highly personalized one-on-one service. When you work with us, our knowledgeable, rigorously trained private wealth advisors will gain a deep understanding of your goals, help you develop a multigenerational wealth strategy, and help you update your strategy as needed. We are committed to providing you access to the investment insights of Merrill and the banking convenience of Bank of America, and Merrill will continue to invest in client tools and new technology to enhance your overall experience as you and your private wealth advisor pursue what’s most important to you.

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Your dedicated Merrill Private Wealth Management team is ready to help you pursue what’s most important to you.

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Our Vision

For clients of substantial means, Merrill Private Wealth Management provides an experience that is both powerful and personal. We are dedicated to helping you pursue your goals for today while developing an approach designed to support your family members for the years to come.

Your private wealth advisor and team of specialists work with a limited number of clients, enabling them to focus their time, training and passion on helping you simplify your personal and business finances and prepare your next generation.

Boutique-like service with the access to the investment resources of Merrill and banking convenience of Bank of America

We combine the personalized attention and feel of a smaller firm with the power and insights of a global financial institution, creating financial strategies tailored to your unique situation.

A relentless commitment to transparency and customized strategies

As our client, know we are working in your best interests, providing goals-based financial strategies designed to anticipate and help meet your evolving financial needs.