Wright Hudak Zabel Group

Private Wealth Advisors
Learn more about an advisor's background on
FINRA's BrokerCheck

Your journey requires customized strategies tailored to your unique goals and priorities. We serve a limited number of individuals and families, allowing us to offer personalized, boutique-like services to help you simplify your life and pursue what’s important to you.

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.

David C Wright

Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams” 2023
Published on January 12, 2023. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2022.*

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

Barron's "Top 1,200 Financial Advisors: State-by-State" 2014 - 2023
Published annually in February - March. Rankings based on data as of September 30 of the prior year.

Barron's "America's Top 1,000 Financial Advisors: State-by-State" 2009 - 2013
Published annually in February. Rankings based on data as of September 30 of the prior year.

Financial Times "400 Top Financial Advisers" 2016 - 2017
Published annually Mar - April. Rankings based on data as of June 30 of prior year.

Michael J Hudak

Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams” 2023
Published on January 12, 2023. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2022.*

Forbes "Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" 2022
Published on April 7, 2022.  Rankings based on data as of June 30, 2021.

Barron's "Top 1,200 Financial Advisors: State-by-State" 2014-2022
Published annually in February - March. Rankings based on data as of September 30 of the prior year.

Barron's "America's Top 1,000 Financial Advisors: State-by-State" 2009-2013
Published annually in February. Rankings based on data as of September 30 of the prior year.

Robert P Zabel

Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams” 2023
Published on January 12, 2023. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2022.*

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.

Wright Hudak Zabel Group

Our group works with and for a select group of clients, most of whom have created wealth in a single generation. We offer guidance to a wide variety of people, including business owners, entrepreneurs, senior corporate executives and their families. We serve clients located across the country from our offices in Chicago, Illinois and Phoenix, Arizona overseeing $3.5 billion in total assets.1

Our senior partners have received a number of accolades:

    • Barron’s magazine, “Top 1,200 Financial Advisors,” 2009 – 2022.2
    • Forbes' "Best-in-State Wealth Advisors," 2018 – 2021.3
    • The Financial Times, ”Top 400 Advisors,” 2016 – 2017.4


1As of close of business 12/31/2021.
2Barron’s “America’s Top 1,200 Financial Advisors: State-by-State” 
Published annually in March. Rankings based on data as of September 30 of prior year.
Years prior to 2014, this Barron's list consisted of 1,000 advisors.
3Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors” 
Published annually Jan – April. Rankings based on data as of June 30 of prior year.
4Financial Times ”400 Top Financial Advisers” 
Published annually Mar – April. Rankings based on data as of June 30 of prior year. 

Core Services

Often, prospective clients are referred to us after a liquidity event occurs or when a milestone event is anticipated. Our core services include guiding clients in portfolio construction, tactical reallocation and rebalancing. We take into account specific wealth objectives, your time horizon, tolerance for risk, income and liquidity needs, tax sensitivities and our assessment of opportunities in the capital markets. We know that tax efficiency is a key to investment returns and growing your wealth in the short and long term. Among the services we offer through access to Merrill specialists are:

  • Post-event wealth structuring strategies
  • Pre-merger and acquisition and pre-initial public offering strategies
  • Concentrated stock, diversification and monetization strategies
  • Portfolio construction, reviews and tax minimization strategies


*Merrill, its affiliates, and financial advisors do not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice. You should consult your legal and/or tax advisors before making any financial decisions.

Our Mission

Our primary investment objective is to grow portfolio assets over time, while preserving capital and minimizing risk. We build on more than 50 years of collective financial services experience and a deep knowledge of the capital markets to guide a select group of clients in making strategic investment decisions.

Our collective experience gives us extensive insight into the dimensions of managing your net worth, investing prudently and preserving your wealth for future generations. As Merrill private wealth advisors, we combine the individual attention and independent advice and guidance you would expect from a financial services boutique with the global resources and technological capabilities of one of the largest wealth management firms in the U.S.

Thoughtful Questions and Careful Listening

This process is designed to guide clients in articulating their most cherished goals and deepest concerns—not only in the financial realm, but in their lives. We ask searching questions like these:

    • What do you want to accomplish with your wealth?
    • What are your life goals and priorities?
    • How do you envision your family in five, 10 or 20 years?
    • Do you want to plan for the transfer of wealth to the next generation or leave a legacy of values, beliefs and life lessons?

Through careful listening, we can help clients to tailor highly customized, proactive wealth management strategies that align with their individual goals and needs.


 

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.

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.