Your finances demand both the broad resources of a global institution and personalized attention. We work with a select few individuals and families, taking the time to understand your situation thoroughly and offer thoughtful, customized approaches.
Insights, observations, and ideas to help you in your pursuit of your financial goals.
Important Video Disclosures
As our client, you will work with a highly experienced and rigorously trained Merrill Private Wealth Management team who strive to gain a deep understanding of your goals and values and provide access to the banking capabilities of Bank of America and the investing capabilities of Merrill to help provide appropriate solutions designed to help you pursue your financial goals.
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.
Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams” 2024
Published on January 12, 2024. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2023.*
Barron's "Top 100 Private Wealth Management Teams" 2021 - 2022
Published annually in April. Rankings based on data as of December 31 of prior year.
Barron's "Top 100 Financial Advisors" 2016 - 2023
Published annually March - April. Rankings based on data as of December 31 of prior year.
Forbes "Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" 2020 - 2023
Published annually Jan- April. Rankings based on data as of June 30 of prior year.
Forbes "America's Top Wealth Advisors" 2016 - 2023
Published annually Aug - Oct. Rankings based on data as of Mar 31 - June 30 of current year.
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.
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.
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.
As a technology entrepreneur, you focus relentlessly on what’s next. Yet as you look ahead to each new venture or cutting-edge innovation, it’s important to maintain the financial foundation that helps power your success and helps you take advantage of potential opportunities as they arise. We have experience helping entrepreneurs and business owners balance their personal lives with their life’s work. We understand the challenges you face every day, whether managing your newly achieved success or gaining access to the liquidity you need as seed capital or for personal expenses. We are dedicated in providing the experience and resources to help support your ongoing success.
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.
An investment portfolio tailored to your needs is crucial to advancing your organization’s mission and carrying on its important work. We have extensive experience working with endowments and foundations and have a keen understanding of the requirements and responsibilities of board and committee members for investment management and financial oversight. The strategies we construct are carefully designed to help promote stability, efficiency and growth under a variety of market conditions. We also offer advice on board governance and reporting, and help in meeting regulatory and operating challenges. We provide access to the customized services your organization needs with discretion and skill.
As private wealth advisors with Merrill Private Wealth Management, we work with prominent families to help them manage the ongoing complexities they face. Our deep experience with family offices enables us to tailor a range of services to help meet your specific needs. We can provide access to Merrill for investment and wealth management strategies, and to Bank of America for governance, asset custody and administration, as well as assisting in the financial education of younger family members. In working with you to create and implement plans reflecting your specific intentions, our goal is to help your family enterprise succeed, and that your knowledge and values are passed along to the next generation. Together, we will focus on strategies that recognize the unique nature of your family’s mission, history and goals.
As a family that spans multiple generations, you have needs that go beyond preserving assets, tax minimization strategies and designating heirs. Your goals also likely include passing on values and helping the rising generation become effective stewards. We can help with personalized wealth transfer strategies, family wealth education and developing and implementing philanthropic visions. In working with you to create an approach that reflects your family’s intentions and helps ensure your assets are distributed according to your wishes, we proceed in a manner that recognizes the complexities of your life challenges and the unique nature of your goals. Our extensive experience working with other families of significant wealth helps us to see and share best practices to help you achieve them.
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.
Your passion drives your organization’s mission, and you depend on an investment portfolio and an effective staff to carry on its important work. As private wealth advisors with Merrill Private Wealth Management, we have experience working with nonprofit organizations. We possess a keen understanding of the challenges you face, including maintaining operational efficiency and productivity through uneven market circumstances, growing competition for donations, and increased fiduciary requirements. Drawing on our extensive capabilities to help you fulfill your organization’s mission, we can provide access to the customized services your organization needs with discretion and skill, such as strategic planning, portfolio management, administrative and board support, and advisory solutions.
For individuals and families with multinational wealth, Merrill Private Wealth Management offers access to a combination of personalized service and the broad resources of a global enterprise. Working with a select number of clients, we take the time to get to know your specific objectives, with cultural sensitivity and understanding that comes from serving people from a range of backgrounds and nationalities. Then, we offer customized financial strategies designed specifically for your life and legacy, with access to the investment insights and U.S. based investment platform of Merrill and banking convenience of Bank of America.
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.
Our investment approach is grounded in a macro perspective with a strong emphasis on capital preservation. We forego fads and impulse thinking, believing instead that research, diversification, and risk analysis are the basis of financial success.
We offer clients extensive experience and guidance in many areas, including the following:
Leigh Cohen has been recognized by the following publications:
Barron’s “Top 100 Financial Advisors” 2016 - 2023
Published annually Mar – April. Rankings based on data as of December 31 of prior year.
Barron’s "Top 100 Private Wealth Management Teams" 2021 - 2022
Published annually in April. Rankings based on data as of December 31 of prior year.
Barron’s "Top 1,200 Financial Advisors" 2014 - 2023
Published annually in February-March. Rankings based on data as of September 30 of prior year.
Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors” 2020 - 2023
Published annually Jan – April. Rankings based on data as of June 30 of prior year.
Forbes “America’s Top Wealth Advisors” 2016 - 2023
Published annually Aug – Oct. Rankings based on data as of Mar 31 – June 30 of current year.
Financial Times “Top 400 Financial Advisers” 2013 - 2020
Published annually Mar – April. Rankings based on data as of June 30 of prior year.
Exceptional Services Tailored to Individual Needs
With over three decades at Merrill, Cohen & Associates understands how to navigate the firm’s extensive resources to address the complex challenges of affluent individuals, families and organizations.
Corporate Executives
Our team has significant experience in advising corporate executives on how to evaluate complex compensation packages, including option and restricted stock grants and non-qualified deferred compensation. For concentrated stock holdings, we customize strategies to help diversify the portfolio and defend the position against adverse market movements.
High-Net-Worth Families
We prepare thoughtful and effective strategies designed to address the unique needs of high-net-worth families. Cohen & Associates have extensive knowledge and experience in:
- Family communication and legacy planning
- Educating next generation with important money skills
- Strategies to meet the needs of each generation
- Estate Planning Services, Succession Planning
- Philanthropic Strategies
Philanthropy and Private Family Foundations
We work in concert with Bank of America Private Bank to provide expertise in establishing philanthropic strategies and vehicles to complement your broader wealth management goals.
Family Office Services
We work closely with Merrill Lynch Family Office Services to manage the financial complexities of Ultra-High-Net-Worth families to help ensure smooth intergenerational transfer and centralization of asset management activities:
- Investment management services
- Philanthropic management
- Life management and budgeting
- Risk management and insurance services
- Estate and wealth transfer
- Reporting and record keeping
- Compliance and regulatory assistance
Educational Programs
We offer educational programs for Clients to enhance their understanding of global markets as well as philanthropy, legacy planning and family dynamics. In addition, we offer programs specifically designed for the next generation in wealth planning and strategy.
*Merrill Lynch Family Office Services are offered through Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MLPF&S” or “Merrill”). In connection with its Family Office Services, Merrill is not acting in the capacity as a broker-dealer, nor as a registered investment adviser. Accordingly, through its Family Office Services, Merrill is not offering, and its clients are not paying for, advice with respect to securities, the purchase or sale of securities, or the valuation thereof, nor do Merrill Lynch's Family Office Services encompass financial planning, discretionary account management, or any other securities-related accounts, products or services. Merrill offers a broad array of brokerage and investment advisory accounts, products and services through other parts of its business outside of Family Office Services, which are subject to separate agreements, disclosures, and fee arrangements, and may be procured by applying or enrolling and contracting through those other business channels.
Merrill Personal Wealth Analysis™ can help us build and document a personalized plan, centered on your goals and focused on what you want to achieve.
Your dedicated Merrill Private Wealth Management team is ready to help you pursue what’s most important to you.
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.
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