Women’s superpower: Investing

Watch our experts share ways to tap into your ability to build a more secure financial future.

Watch now

Catherine Portner, CEPA

Financial Advisor
Learn more about an advisor's background on
FINRA's BrokerCheck

Merrill Lynch
Wealth Management

I am an accessible, knowledgeable and passionate professional. I prioritize building strong relationships to understand your values to unlock true joy and happiness.

Our Videos

Insights, observations, and ideas to help you in your pursuit of your financial goals.

Important Video Disclosures

My team and I can help you define your financial goals and pursue what matters most to you and your clients.

My team and I will help you pursue what matters most to you and your family.

Merrill Personal Wealth Analysis® can help us build and document your personalized plan, centered on your goals and focused on what you want to achieve.

Profile

Catherine Portner offers a holistic approach to managing wealth that begins with listening to your needs and helping ensure every strategy is grounded in a deep understanding what you want to achieve. Catherine focuses on developing investment strategies for business owners and women. As a former business owner herself, she intimately knows the challenges and rewards this work brings.

Whether helping clients navigate a volatile market to make their retirement vision a reality, support investment initiatives in environmental and social ventures or implement their legacy plans, Catherine leverages Merrill’s extensive research and technology resources and the plethora of banking and lending capabilities offered by Bank of America. In addition, she works with clients’ attorneys, accountants and other advisors to help coordinate their financial and legacy strategies as a trusted personal advisor.

Community involvement is an integral part of how Catherine supports clients and her community. A committed humanitarian, Catherine adheres to a personal philosophy of “think globally, act locally.” She volunteers and fundraises for Greater Washington DC chapters of the YMCA, Habitat for Humanity and Operation Smile. Catherine holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Boston College and a master’s degree in business administration from Babson College.

*Any information presented in connection with BofA Global Research is general in nature and is not intended to provide personal investment advice. The information does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs of any specific person who may receive it. Investors should understand that statements regarding future prospects may not be realized. BofA Global Research is equity research produced by BofA Securities, Inc. (“BofAS”) and/or one or more of its affiliates. BofA Global Research does and seeks to do business with companies covered in its research reports. As a result, investors should be aware that the firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this report. Investors should consider this report as only a single factor in making their investment decision.

  • EDUCATION

    Babson College

    Boston 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.

Tim Hunnicutt

Regional Lending Specialist

Bank of America, N.A.

NMLS #505197

Kyle Sylor

Wealth Strategies Advisor

Bank of America, N.A.

Adam J. Ward

Retirement Specialist

Bank of America, N.A.

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

Welcome

Catherine joined the financial services industry to help others. Her altruism stems from recognizing the need for a professional and caring team that helps those seeking to realize the life and legacy they want to achieve. Catherine looks to help others define their goals, establish a wealth management strategy centered on their priorities and navigate a path forward through life’s ups and downs.

Philosophy

The world, more than ever, is changing at a breakneck pace and your needs and priorities can do so too. Communication is instrumental to success in managing these challenges and planning for the years ahead. With your priorities and personal values as a foundation, Catherine will work with you to build a holistic financial strategy tailored with your specific goals in mind.

Catherine’s philosophy involves parsing the appropriate investment-related decisions and trade-offs to help clients reach meaningful personal and professional goals. No matter the goals, start by defining and prioritizing your financial targets from seven key perspectives:

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

Approach

My approach to investing is grounded in an understanding of you. It all begins with a conversation. I take the time to get to know you — your children's names, how hard you worked to get where you are and how you define success. I'll work together with you to help understand your personal investment style, prioritize your goals and build an individualized plan that reflects your needs. As an investor you can benefit from the investment insights of Merrill, along with access to trust and fiduciary services from Bank of America Private Bank and credit and lending solutions from Bank of America. There’s only one financial approach that really matters — yours.

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.

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.

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.

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.

    DigitalMerrill2.png 
    Transcript of Video

    #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.

      Request Appointment

      Articles

      DISPLAYING:

      Market Briefs

      Women’s Superpower: Investing

      The One Secret to Creating a Smarter Wealth Transfer Plan

      How should taxes factor into your investment decisions?

      Where are you on the road to retirement?

      6 Surprising Benefits of Having a Financial Plan

      5 Ways to Fund Your Startup

      Social Security: Aiming for Smarter Payments

      How much is too much cash in your portfolio?

      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.


      MLBrochure.png

      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.

      Anthem video thumb.jpg 
      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.