Ponder Jowers & Associates

Private Wealth Advisors
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Your wealth demands highly personalized attention delivered with the broad resources of a global institution. We work with a select few individuals and families, taking the time to understand your situation thoroughly, and offer thoughtful strategies customized for you. We continually work hard to simplify, protect, and modernize your financial life, to enable you the freedom to pursue life's passions.

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.

Additional Resources

The following specialists do not make securities recommendations. Please contact your Merrill Private Wealth Advisor if you have questions about how a specialist might be able to assist you.

Michael Duffy

Private Wealth Strategist

Merrill

Kurt A. Niemeyer

National Structured Credit Executive

Bank of America, N.A.

Christopher Harley

Wealth Management Banking Specialist

Merrill

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.

Herbert M. Ponder “Bert”

Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams” 2024
Published on January 12, 2024. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2023.*

James E. Jowers “Jay”

Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams” 2024
Published on January 12, 2024. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2023.*

Norinne H Millner "Nandy"

Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams” 2024
Published on January 12, 2024. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2023.*

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

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.

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.

Client Experience

Clients of Ponder Jowers & Associates have an experienced and responsive team working on their behalf to help ensure that they meet their financial goals and can quickly solve problems that may arise. With significant wealth comes a wide variety of interests and needs. Our clients rely on our team to provide the intimate advice, guidance and execution that they deserve.

Each client works with a senior partner and has a team of at least three professionals specifically dedicated to them. We maintain a close personal relationship with our clients and collaborate with them to pursue their goals and help meet their expectations. Within our ten person team we intentionally create overlaps of client knowledge as well as subject matter knowledge, to allow for immediate and seamless client advice and service. 

We meet with each of our clients for focused in person reviews at their preferred intervals. Whether monthly, quarterly or otherwise our client contact is consistent and focused to keep clients informed and help guide them to achieve their goals.

Our Approach

No two families are alike. We start by understanding your life. Your unique goals and concerns are our top priority. Our disciplined, goals-based wealth management approach is designed to help you pursue your objectives through an understanding of what matters most to you.

Our investment process beings by developing a clear picture of your concerns, objectives, and priorities. We balance those with your tolerance for risk and complexity. Your portfolio can be very sophisticated and complex, or straight forward and simple, depending upon your preference. We track and reevaluate your strategy regularly and make changes as needed to align with changing environment and goals.

By understanding your personal viewpoints, we can help you navigate market volatility, and changes in the financial landscape. We are equipped with vast resources to help you determine and communicate your priorities with the people most important in your world.

Community Engagement

Our community is important to us and each member of the team is involved in many ways. These are the organizations of which we're most supportive:  
Atlanta Estate Planning Council
Atlanta Junior Golf Association
Atlanta Roundtable
Boy Scouts of America
Buckhead Baseball
BCM
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
CHRIS 180
Executives for Egleston
First Tee at East Lake
Georgia Council on Economic Education
Girls’ Preparatory School
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church
Northside United Methodist Church
Peachtree Presbyterian Church
Peachtree Road United Methodist Church
The Fugees Academy
The Westminster Schools
Washington and Lee Atlanta Alumni Board

Intergenerational Family Wealth

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.

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.

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.

Women

As a woman, you are well aware of how inaccurate stereotypes about gender and money can be. Beyond some specific challenges — for example, planning for the statistical probability of outliving a spouse — managing your finances means avoiding preconceived assumptions while gaining a full understanding of who you are as an investor and what you want to achieve for your career, your family and your legacy. Merrill Private Wealth Management works with a select group of wealthy individuals and families to help them pursue the goals that matter most to them. We strive to get to know our clients on a personal level so we can offer boutique-like services and the resources of a global firm to create financial strategies specifically for their life and needs.

Nonprofit organizations

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.

Foundations and Endowments

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.

Let's have a conversation

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

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.