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I've met with Merrill and a relative of mine who has a sizable net worth uses ML but after reviewing the portfolio there is nothing inventive- American funds some stocks.
It really depends on your risk profile. ML have taken us into some alternative investments which have done pretty well.
I have part of my money invested with ML. It's important to note that the various advisors have the ability to conduct their business very differently.
When I inherited my $ the ML advisor was one that received his $ on a commission basis, which meant that he made money each time he does a trade for his clients. He also invested heavily with mutual funds.
I switched to a different ML advisor in a different office. My current advisor makes her $ by charging a percentage of the income she generates for me. I think the rate I'm paying is 1%. I like this because she has the incentive to really do well with investments rather than just get easy dough by getting clients involved with funds that make pay a commission. My current advisor also prefers not to work with large mutual funds, but instead invests my money directly - in stocks, T-Bills, bonds, and etc. I have two different accounts with her, one with moderate risk, and one very conservative. The only disadvantage with this that I can see is that I have a lot of capital gains each year, which affects my taxes (although I mitigate that in other ways.)
I also like the fact that they meet with me for a couple of hours twice a year, either in their office or at my home. We also communicate by e-mail and phone. If I wanted to meet more often, of course we could.
So I guess my advice is, whether it is ML or another company, talk with a variety of advisors in a variety of offices, and choose one that charges a fee rather than one that makes commission.
Oh, and re taking your funds out - I guess that applies specifically to participating in mutual funds? I also invest with another company, and they did get me out of one fund I dislike: "Black Rock." As far as I know I'll just have capital gains taxes to pay, not any other penalty. I'm not 100% sure about this, though.
That's good Jaggy- it's just been my experience that most of the ML advisors I've met are mostly salesmen that don't offer much in the way of delivering alternative strategies.
That's good Jaggy- it's just been my experience that most of the ML advisors I've met are mostly salesmen that don't offer much in the way of delivering alternative strategies.
How many have you met and sat down with to discuss investment strategy and asset allocation?
I have part of my money invested with ML. It's important to note that the various advisors have the ability to conduct their business very differently.
When I inherited my $ the ML advisor was one that received his $ on a commission basis, which meant that he made money each time he does a trade for his clients. He also invested heavily with mutual funds.
I switched to a different ML advisor in a different office. My current advisor makes her $ by charging a percentage of the income she generates for me. I think the rate I'm paying is 1%. I like this because she has the incentive to really do well with investments rather than just get easy dough by getting clients involved with funds that make pay a commission. My current advisor also prefers not to work with large mutual funds, but instead invests my money directly - in stocks, T-Bills, bonds, and etc. I have two different accounts with her, one with moderate risk, and one very conservative. The only disadvantage with this that I can see is that I have a lot of capital gains each year, which affects my taxes (although I mitigate that in other ways.)
I also like the fact that they meet with me for a couple of hours twice a year, either in their office or at my home. We also communicate by e-mail and phone. If I wanted to meet more often, of course we could.
So I guess my advice is, whether it is ML or another company, talk with a variety of advisors in a variety of offices, and choose one that charges a fee rather than one that makes commission.
Oh, and re taking your funds out - I guess that applies specifically to participating in mutual funds? I also invest with another company, and they did get me out of one fund I dislike: "Black Rock." As far as I know I'll just have capital gains to pay, not any other penalty. I'm not 100% sure about this, though.
Good comment.
ML is not monolithic. There are multiple wealth management groups within ML. Some are better than others, some operate differently to others.
We are also on a fee rather than a commission basis.
601- it's good you seem to be satisfied with the relationship you have at ML & then only thing I would say when dealing with any advisor is that they are providing value but consistently delivering returns in excess of the market.
That's good Jaggy- it's just been my experience that most of the ML advisors I've met are mostly salesmen that don't offer much in the way of delivering alternative strategies.
We went with an ML group who specialized in people retiring from our kind of organization. However, we were also contacted by other wealth advisors with other organizations. We chose ML because 1) we got a lot of very positive feedback from already retired colleagues and 2) we were very impressed by the ML people we spoke to and 3) they made our transition to retirement very easy because they knew how to work our system to pull all the disparate pots of money into one place..
To date, our experience is positive.
Edit: worth bearing in mind that we were not looking for 'inventive' strategy. We are by nature pretty conservative financially. We were looking for steady performance and that is what we have got.
Low- these would be friends of mine that work for ML & I have been approached on several occasions to join different groups.
General vagueness and avoiding a simple question. It's a great indication of prospective
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