New Digital Tool Makes It Easier than Ever to
Match People Seeking Financial Advice to Financial Advisors
NEW
YORK, Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today,
Merrill Wealth Management launched Merrill Advisor Match, a
research-based, digital platform that connects people seeking
financial advice with a Merrill
financial advisor who best fits their preferences and needs.
Data shows there is a need for a modern approach for finding an
advisor. A third of affluent Americans are not working with an
advisor today. They cite the following reasons why:
- 22% say they don't know how to find the right advisor,
- 14% say reaching out to an advisor is intimidating, and
- 10% say they can't find one who understands their unique
needs.1
Merrill Advisor Match solves for this need by offering a simple
set of questions to answer, serving up a personalized list of
advisors and providing the option for the prospect to digitally
schedule a meeting with the advisor of their choice.
"We've combined a century of bringing Wall Street to Main Street
with a personalized digital experience that takes the guesswork out
of finding the right advisor," said Andy
Sieg, President of Merrill Wealth Management. "Merrill
Advisor Match is an industry-changing innovation that reflects our
modern Merrill strategy, helping
to connect more investors to advice from the best advisors in the
industry."
According to a recent Merrill
survey, affluent Americans prioritize working with an advisor who
matches their communication style (90%) and personality (83%)
nearly as much as one who delivers financial results
(93%).1
The intuitive questionnaire and technology behind Merrill
Advisor Match were developed and informed by in-depth interviews,
focus groups, and quantitative surveys with advisors and clients.
The tool matches people to advisors based on multiple dimensions,
including:
- Engagement preferences to understand how a prospective
client would like to meet and interact with their advisor (e.g.,
frequency of meetings, proximity to advisor, level of
proactivity);
- Guidance style to assess prospective clients' preference
on how they communicate with their advisor, receive recommendations
and how decisions are reached; and
- Personality traits to inform the best client-advisor
pairing (e.g., introvert vs. extrovert, approach to problem
solving).
"Recommendations from family and friends will forever be an
important way people are introduced to an advisor. However, most
people who aren't working with an advisor, 62%, would be the first
in their family to have an advisor relationship," said Kirstin Hill, Merrill Chief Operating Officer. "For those
who don't have a connection in their personal network, Merrill
Advisor Match uses research and qualitative analysis to break down
barriers to professional financial advice."
The new tool is becoming available at a time when the demand for
financial advice is high. The combination of the global pandemic
coupled with the most volatile markets in decades, is accelerating
the desire for affluent Americans to find an advisor they can trust
to help them achieve their goals.1
Visit www.ml.com/advisormatch to learn more and complete
the Merrill Advisor Match experience.
Choice of advisor does not guarantee future success. Investing
risks involved.
1 Concentrix (an independent market research company)
conducted a panel-sample online survey on behalf of Bank of
America/Merrill from July 22 – August 4,
2022. The survey consisted of 1,095 affluent respondents
throughout the U.S. Respondents in the study were aged 18 to 99,
with investable assets of $250,000
and above. For this purpose, investable assets consist of the value
of all cash, savings, mutual funds, CDs, IRAs, stocks, bonds and
all other types of investments such as a 401(k), 403(B), and Roth
IRA, but excluding primary home and other real estate investments.
The margin of error is +/- 2.96%, reported at a 95% confidence
level. Using the same survey, Concentrix also oversampled of
Black/African American, Hispanic and LGBTQ+ respondents in order to
achieve enough surveys to ensure a robust sample size for analysis.
The total sample sizes of 484 Black/African American, 340 Hispanic
and 416 LGBTQ+ have a margin of error of +/- 4.45%, 5.31% and 4.80%
respectively.
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial
institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market
businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking,
investing, asset management and other financial and risk management
products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience
in the United States, serving
approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with
approximately 4,000 retail financial centers, approximately 16,000
ATMs, and award-winning digital banking with more than 55 million
verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in
wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading
across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations,
governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of
America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million
small business households through a suite of innovative,
easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves
clients through operations across the
United States, its territories and approximately 35
countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed
on the New York Stock Exchange.
www.bankofamerica.com
Investment products:
Are Not FDIC
Insured
|
Are Not Bank
Guaranteed
|
May Lose
Value
|
© 2022 Bank of America Corporation. All rights
reserved.
4963033
Reporters may contact:
Julia Ehrenfeld, Bank of
America
Phone: 1.646.855.3267
julia.ehrenfeld@bofa.com
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/merrill-advisor-match-transforms-the-way-people-find-a-financial-advisor-301640264.html
SOURCE Bank of America Corporation