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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.

Peter M Wernemar

Forbes "Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" 2023
Published on April 4, 2023. Rankings based on data as of June 30, 2022.

Profile

Peter Wernemar
Senior Vice President
Senior Financial Advisor

Peter’s experience in the financial services industry spans two decades. A native Swede, Peter came to the United States in 1994 on a tennis scholarship. He received his B.A. in Business from Elon University in North Carolina, with concentrations in finance and international business management. He began his career as a Financial Planner with John Hancock Financial Services in North Carolina. In 1999, he was recruited by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. He was given the opportunity to join Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in 2001 and relocated his business to Newport Beach, California.

Peter’s focus is on developing and delivering quality wealth management advice and guidance for high net-worth clients. Drawing on the investment insights of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and the banking strength of Bank of America, Peter adopts a total wealth management approach. His individualized service, supported by a dedicated hands-on team, allows each client to receive prompt, detailed and personalized attention that makes them feel as if they are his only client.

Specifically, Peter works with his clients in the following areas:

• Planning and Structuring of Wealth Transfer
• Risk and Asset Allocation: Strategic, Tactical and
Opportunistic
• Liquidity Needs and Cash Management
• Business and Personal Credit Lending through Bank of
America N.A.


Peter’s philosophy is to keep things simple and straightforward. Each client has different financial goals and desires. Peter feels it is his job to listen and understand each client’s needs so he can implement an individualized and customized financial strategy that is designed to accomplish both long-term investment objectives and short-term monetary requirements. Peter respects the hard work his clients have invested to create their wealth. Peter takes the responsibility of managing that wealth so his clients have the freedom to pursue their own passions and desires.

Peter enjoys golf, tennis, and yoga. Even more importantly, he cherishes spending time with his wife Shannon, and their four children that are the pride and joy of his life.

  • LANGUAGES

    Swedish

  • EDUCATION

    Elon University

Professional Staff

Supported by the global resources of Merrill, my team is comprised of talented and experienced individuals committed to building strong client relationships based on trust and personalized service.

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.

Kimberly P Auerbach

Senior Wealth Management Lending Officer

Bank of America, N.A.

NMLS #637449

Leila Jahani

Wealth Management Banking Specialist

Merrill

Sara Burns

Wealth Strategies Advisor

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

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

It is important that you take positive steps toward your financial future, and that means getting more than just investment advice. I take the time to get to know you and your family, your financial situation and what matters most to you. Using one-on-one collarboration as a foundation, I can work with you to build your own personalized financial strategy.

Welcome

My goal is to connect you to the people, plan and process that best fit your unique ambitions. We help you pursue your personal goals, such as planning for and funding your children’s educations; helping to ensure that your retirement lifestyle their and potential health care costs are covered; and creating a personalized plan designed to help you achieve your family's long-term goals. Everything I do for and with you takes into account your personal perspectives and priorities. I aim to bring simplicity and transparency to the complexities of investing, making the intimidating task of wealth planning an exciting journey of managing and helping you reach your goals.

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.