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Profile

As the son of hard working middle class Americans, Kristian’s passion lies in helping his clients be better stewards of all they have been blessed with. Wealth is a blessing and it carries responsibility with it. Consider the challenges facing families today: taxes; market, geopolitical and economic risks; inflation; health care costs; retirement income planning and so much more. The old ways of managing wealth may not be the best solutions for the 21st century. Kris works with his clients to develop a new way to think about their assets, lifestyle and dreams – from what drives their goals, to what should be done today to make a powerful impact in their lives and their family’s lives tomorrow. Many of Kris’s clients enjoy the benefits of living in a small country town, but they look to Kris to help them create sophisticated strategies for every stage of their financial lives.

Kris brings the knowledge he learned earning the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification, a designation awarded by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. as well as the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™ designation.  Kris focuses on developing strategies and recommendations for individuals and their families to help them meet their financial and retirement goals. Kris strives to stay on top of new ideas and innovative approaches to enable him to prepare for events that might affect your financial situation.

|At the heart of Kris’s philosophy is a passion to build enduring relationships with his clients through trust, outstanding service and superior knowledge and guidance. Kris takes the time to listen to and review his client’s financial situations, goals and dreams and works with his clients to develop an individually customized wealth management strategy. He believes that this proactive approach helps him anticipate his client’s financial needs and be better prepared to balance risk and reward solutions based upon the client’s risk tolerance, time horizon, liquidity needs and overall investment goals. His goal is to always exceed your expectations with exceptional service.

Kristian graduated in 1996 from Grove City College with a B.S. in Accounting and Political Science, where he played rugby, worked with the college radio station, and conducted Bible studies at George Junior, a local juvenile detention center. After Grove City College he attended Gettysburg Theological Seminary for three years where he learned about theology and more importantly how to think critically and independently. When he left theological school he joined the financial services industry with Smith Barney in March of 2000. In 2006 he joined Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.

In addition to the time spent with clients and family, Kristian makes time to be part of his community. He has served on the Board of Directors for the Council for the Arts, Caring For All, the American Cancer Society's Annual Franklin County Relay for Life Event, South Central PA Board of Development for the American Cancer Society, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Executive Council, the Civitan Club, the Capitol Theatre's Board of Directors and on the Kisamore’s Mission Support Team. He actively supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the American Cancer Society as a cancer survivor himself. He also supports Habitat for Humanity, Compassion International and his local community in as many ways possible. He enjoys retreating to his home on weekends with his wife Jodi to work in his garden, or reading a good book while sitting on his porch looking out over the local mountains. He is an avid Pittsburgh sports fan and a Hershey Bears season ticket holder.

Community involvement is an integral part of how we interact with clients and communities. We are enthusiastically involved with volunteering and fundraising for organizations such as the American Cancer Society and Civitan International . Let us show you how our professionalism and dedicated client service could benefit you and your family. Contact us at your earliest convenience.

  • LANGUAGES

    English

  • EDUCATION

    Grove City College

Additional Resources

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

Peter Llaguno

Wealth Management Banking Specialist

Merrill

Jeremy Floberg

Wealth Strategies Advisor

Bank of America, N.A.

Marjorie Gefner

Regional Lending Specialist

Bank of America, N.A.

NMLS #16270

Where do we begin? It starts with you.

At Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, your financial advisor focuses on the things you care about most- family, goals and priorities - even as they change over the years.

Understanding Your Life

Approach

Every relationship begins with a conversation, helping you identify and prioritize which goals matter most to you. Whether it's transferring wealth to the next generation, customizing your financial approach to help you pursue your passions, or providing advice and guidance to help you stay informed, I start by listening to learn more about you and your family.

Capabilities

Merrill’s process is designed to help deliver a customized, comprehensive experience to assist you not only in wealth accumulation and preservation, but in areas that go beyond investments. Providing you with access to the investment insights of Merrill, trust and fiduciary services from Bank of America Private Bank, and the banking and lending solutions of Bank of America offers a way to help you manage all of the pieces of your financial life. Working one-on-one with a Merrill advisor means you have a single point of contact to help you with potential strategies for transferring wealth to the younger generation.

Focus On Individuals, Families and Small Businesses

I believe that financial success can be achieved when you’re able to make investment-related decisions and trade-offs that can help you reach personally meaningful goals. Whether you’re planning your retirement, saving to buy a home or funding a child’s education, the process begins by getting to know you and how you feel about the following:

  • Health: Managing healthcare expenses, now and in the future
  • Home: Upsizing, downsizing, remodeling or buying a vacation home
  • Family: Taking care of your family and other people in your life
  • Leisure: Spending your free time in meaningful ways
  • Giving: Volunteering, mentoring others and giving to charities
  • Work: Working in retirement, selling or starting a business
  • Finance: Bringing it all together and defining your financial goals

Success will be measured by the amount of progress you are making toward reaching your goals, making thoughtfully considered adjustments as events and conditions warrant.

This material should be regarded as general or educational information on healthcare or Social Security considerations and is not intended to provide specific healthcare or social security advice. If you have questions regarding your particular situation, please contact your legal or tax advisor.

Your approach to investing

Drawing upon research in the field of behavioral finance, Merrill developed the Investment Personality Assessment to help us get to know you better as an investor and potentially help you refine your own investing preferences. By gaining a deeper understanding of how you think and feel about investing through this assessment, we can customize the financial approach we develop together to help you pursue what matters most to you. Our Investment Personality Assessment is one of the ways to help us get to know you - to understand your goals and priorities. These questions will help us provide you with additional insights and resources.

Understanding your goals and priorities

Your life and goals change. We have tools to help you keep track of these changes so they can be reflected in your financial approach.

Philosophy

I believe the best financial approach is the one that helps you pursue your goals. That's why, from the start, we talk about your aspirations and encourage you to ask questions about issues that matter most to you. Calculating how to manage future health care expenses? College on the horizon? Considering the sale of a business or purchase of a home? Preparing to pass your wealth to future generations? It all starts with a plan intended to help you manage, grow, and preserve your wealth today, while also considering the impact it can have for years to come. With access to the investment insights of Merrill and banking solutions from Bank of America, I will work with you to develop an approach designed to help address your financial needs.

Welcome

My mission, first and foremost, is to understand you and what matters most to you. Armed with that information I can ask thoughtful questions -- listening carefully, then understanding in detail where your wealth stands today and where you’d like it to be tomorrow. I help you design and implement a personalized plan intended to help you and your family pursue financial goals while helping manage investment risk. My approach is to focus on potential solutions that can help turn goals into reality.

Staying on Track

We understand that both your life and the financial markets can change over time. By checking in to discuss changes in your life and revisiting your financial approach, our goal is to help you stay on track to achieve what's most important to you.



Reviews to help you
stay on track

We’ll meet with you to review your goals and the progress you’ve made toward reaching them. We’ll also discuss any adjustments needed to your financial approach to help you stay on course.



    Changes in your life
    and to your goals

    Your life and goals change. As these changes occur, we can update your approach to reflect them.

    #DigitalMerrill

    MyMerrill is your online destination for access to your financial information, secure communications, and a robust offering of tools and capabilities.

    Your advisor is a click away within our site or mobile apps

    You can manage account security with our customizable security capabilities such as touch ID, one time passcode, and other security features

    Access to your complete financial life is available with My Financial Picture, Merrill’s asset aggregation tool

      Let’s Have a Conversation

      Helping you reach your goals starts with getting to know you personally. Through understanding what matters most to you, together I can help you create a financial approach that reflects your personality. Only then can I offer an approach that is built around your life priorities and the advice you need to help you address fluctuations in the market and changes in your life. Let’s work together to help you achieve your goals.

      Why Merrill?

      As Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Advisors, we will sort through the financial complexities of your life, helping you build a customized investment approach to address your needs and pursue your goals.


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      We put you first, every day.
      Learn more about the dedicated one-on-one relationship you can have with a Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Advisor.

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      Transcript of Video 

      No question too big or moment too small
      For every question you have, every decision you make and every answer you need, we are with you to listen and help guide you along the many paths your life can take. Watch this video to see some questions we can address together.


      The Power of the Right Advisor®
      Working with a dedicated Merrill advisor means you get personalized investment strategies from Merrill plus access to comprehensive financial solutions only Bank of America can deliver.

      Personalized advice from a dedicated financial advisor.

      We get to know you and your family, your financial situation and what matters most to you.

      A comprehensive approach, built around your life’s priorities.

      Drawing from our experience and the best thinking of Merrill, together we will design an approach that reflects your unique needs, priorities and financial situation.

      Adjusting your investment approach as your life and the markets change.

      We will work to help you stay on track, regardless of what the markets are doing.