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The DiPrinzio Group

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"We offer clients personalized attention from a knowledgeable local team, with access to the global resources and specialized capabilities of Merrill and Bank of America."

Ronald J DiPrinzio, CIMA®, CPFA
Managing Director
Wealth Management Advisor
Global Institutional Consultant

We start with what’s important to you

We take the time to listen and learn about the needs and goals of your institution and the people it serves – it’s these real-world insights that guide our strategies and personalized service.

About Us

Additional Resources

The DiPrinzio Group is supported by talented specialists who have experience working with institutions and share a strong commitment to guiding investment programs and strategic decision making.

The DiPrinzio Group Difference

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Since 1984, The DiPrinzio Group has been delivering knowledgeable, customized investment consulting guidance to a range of institutions. The DiPrinzio Group has worked with clients that include defined benefit and defined contribution funds of corporations; Taft-Hartley organizations; foundations and endowments; long-term investment reserves for health care and religious organizations, and other nonprofit institutions.

Under the leadership of Global Institutional Consultant Ron DiPrinzio, The DiPrinzio Group is among a select group of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management financial advisor teams that are part of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Institutional Consulting group. Attaining this designation as a Global Institutional Consulting group team means that The DiPrinzio Group has met requirements related to a comprehensive, multidimensional professional assessment and a review of their institutional client experience. Members of the team have attained either the Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) and/or the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation, each of which are industry recognized professional certifications.

The DiPrinzio Group is a tight-knit group of professionals who are focused on providing a high degree of professional service and customization for a limited number of institutional relationships. As such, teamwork is intrinsic to The DiPrinzio Group's approach, with each member of the The DiPrinzio Group bringing to each relationship years of experience and knowledge acquired from working closely with a broad range of institutional investors. The teamwork and knowledge of The DiPrinzio Group, gained over the course of different market cycles, has given them valuable insight into the investment decisions of institutions, a perspective that helps them focus on the important issues. They share a strong commitment to guiding institutional investment programs and strategic decision making, bringing to bear their extensive experience and training together with their deep understanding of the resources of Bank of America and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.

*Chartered Financial Analyst® and CFA® are registered trademarks of the CFA Institute.
*Investments & Wealth Institute™ (The Institute) is the owner of the certification marks CIMA® and Certified Investment Management Analyst®.  Use of CIMA®, and/or Certified Investment Management Analyst® signifies that the user has successfully completed the Institute’s initial and ongoing credentialing requirements for investment management professionals.

Our Team Strengths

Tab 2 photo.jpgInstitutions face complex investment decisions, unexpected opportunities and unique challenges. Our team has been providing clients with informed guidance, based on critical thinking and diligent attention to detail, for more than 20 years. Our business is based on the following principles:

Customization: We build investment management strategies from the ground up, carefully tailoring them to the specific goals and values of each organization. We also customize our reports and analyses to clients' individual requirements in order to provide robust summaries containing relevant information that helps facilitate decision making.

Commitment: We are dedicated to helping clients build investment programs to support their mission, contributing, for instance, to an employee's ability to retire with dignity or to a foundation's capacity to meet or exceed its granting targets. Throughout our relationship with a client, we remain personally involved in maintaining these investment programs and helping them to remain aligned with the organization's objectives and values.

Teamwork: We are strong believers in collaboration, with clients and with one another. Our team members work together as a cohesive unit to provide each client with a wide range of services, striving always to be accessible, responsive and respectful. We also work in conjunction with your organization's staff, using a variety of tools, reports, meetings and teleconferences to share information, educate board and committee members and help with decision making.

Community and Professional Involvement: We are active in professional and industry associations and in our local communities. We serve in various leadership and other roles, including serving on boards of several organizations. We feel this involvement keeps us up-to-date on professional and industry developments and gives us important insight into the challenges that trustees face – and the different ways in which boards address those challenges.

Who We Serve

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We believe that while investment results are important, how you get those results is paramount. Our team follows a disciplined consulting process, one that begins and ends with you. Among our services:

Foundations, Endowments and Other Nonprofits

  • Assist with investment policy statement review, risk analysis, asset allocation analysis, portfolio construction and manager selection.
  • Analyze the interaction of alternative investment strategies and the cash flow requirements of an organization to aid in understanding a spending policy's ability to provide a sustainable source of cash flow to the organization.
  • Craft an education curriculum for trustees, directors and investment committee members covering such areas as fund-raising and capital campaigns, compliance policies, governance and administration and grantmaking policies.
Corporate Defined Benefit Plans
  • Assist you in reviewing an investment policy statement this is reflecting your benefit design, funding constraints, return objectives, and accounting policy.
  • Provide risk management and asset/ liability studies, evaluation of investment managers, portfolio construction and manager selection.
Taft-Hartley Plans
  • Share our extensive experience working with multiemployer plans and our understanding of the issues related to the management of pension, welfare and annuity funds for union workers.
  • Assist you in reviewing an investment policy statement this is reflecting your benefit design, funding constraints and return objectives.
Corporate Defined Contribution Plans
  • Develop an investment menu, assist in investment vehicle identification and provide a needs assessment.
  • Identify third-party administrators or record keepers.
  • Provide plan benchmarking, competitiveness analysis, fund performance overseeing and regular reviews, cost analysis, and plan sponsor and employee education and communication.
  • Access plan administration through Bank of America Corporate Defined-Benefit Plans
Health Care Organizations
  • Help manage endowments, operating funds, capital campaigns and other valuable assets.
  • Assist with investment policy statement review, risk analysis, asset allocation analysis, portfolio construction and manager selection.
Outsourced CIO Services
  • Outsourced CIO services allows institutional investors to delegate the day-to-day management of their entire portfolios to Bank of America through Global Institutional Consulting, which in turn leverages the firm's institutional resources, governance and research depth to seek predictable and consistent investment performance in line with an institution's goals. The DiPrinzio Group offers access to a spectrum of OCIO solutions ranging from client-directed implementation to fully discretionary service, with the institution's needs and preferences driving the recommended strategies.*
*The OCIO product offering is an established investment program offering delivered through the Bank of America Private Bank portfolio management team and investment services are performed by that same team. Global Institutional Consultants offer access to these services.*

*Some or all alternative investment programs may not be in the best interest of certain investors. No assurance can be given that any alternative investment’s investment objectives will be achieved.

*Asset allocation does not ensure profit or protect against loss in declining markets.

*Global Institutional Consulting (“GIC”) is part of the Global Wealth and Retirement Solutions business of BofA Corp. Banking and fiduciary activities are performed by wholly owned banking affiliates of BofA Corp, including Bank of America, N.A. Both brokerage and investment advisory services are provided by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (“MLPF&S”), a registered broker-dealer, Member Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), and registered investment adviser; the nature and degree of advice and assistance provided, the fees charged, and clients’ rights and MLPF&S’s obligations will differ depending upon the products and services actually provided. Global Institutional Consultants mentioned herein are registered representatives with MLPF&S and may assist you with investment products and services

*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 research produced by BofA Securities, Inc. (“BofAS”) and/or one or more of its affiliates. BofAS is a registered broker-dealer, Member SIPC, and wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation. 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.


Meet the Team

Our team is comprised of talented and experienced individuals committed to building strong client relationships based on trust and personalized service.

Solutions for Institutions

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Helping institutions meet their investment needs

We put the resources and intellectual capital of Merrill to work for institutional clients like you by delivering thoughtful advice and sophisticated investment strategies through focused client-centric consulting. We help organizations like yours address today’s complex investment challenges through an integrated, goals-based investment process that enables them to redefine success, manage risk and help fulfill their missions.

Supporting a strong retirement plan and helping to keep it on track

The retirement and financial needs of your employees, as well as the responsibility those needs create for you as an employer, are important to you. We offer the solutions your employees may need to help pursue their financial goals and maintain financial wellness. Our array of resources and experience is designed to help meet your employees’ financial needs in ways that make sense for your company — strategically, operationally and financially. You and your employees will have a team of experienced and passionate advocates for financial wellness on your side. Our team will make your priorities their own so you can focus more on your business.

For Plan Sponsors

Your role as a plan sponsor is more challenging than ever, and it’s not something to face alone. We bring the resources and thought leadership from Bank of America Corporation and its affiliates to bear in helping you provide a strong, healthy and fully compliant program that runs smoothly, engages your employees and makes your job easier. We can help you focus on the areas that may be helpful to plan success, including Fiduciary Advisory Services 1 and Education and Plan Services 2 appropriate for your plan.

Fiduciary Advisory Services1

Through Fiduciary Advisory Services, we can help you design and maintain an investment menu.
  • Investment Policy Statement (IPS)3
  • Comprehensive due diligence processes to identify appropriate investments 
  • Proactive delivery – online and by your designated advisor – of investment performance reporting every quarter 
  • Report providing fund analysis and market trends.

1 Fiduciary Advisory Services is an investment advisory program sponsored by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MLPF&S” or “Merrill”). Merrill offers a broad range of brokerage, investment advisory and other services. There are important differences between brokerage and investment advisory services, including the type of advice and assistance provided, the fees charged, and the rights and obligations of the parties. It is important to understand the differences, particularly when determining which service or services to select. Please refer to the Fiduciary Advisory Services Brochure for information on the program including a description of the series and related fees.

2 Education and Plan Services are non-fiduciary services required for Advisor Alliance clients and optional for MLII clients.

3 IPS service is not available for FAS Discretionary. The plan sponsor is responsible for the approval and final adoption of the IPS.

Investment Solutions

We provide access to a broad suite of potential investment solutions for non-profit organizations, foundations, endowments and corporate retirement and pension plans. Our level of involvement is based on your preference — from traditional consulting, to client-directed implementation, to full discretionary outsourced CIO services. We work with your CFO, board  of directors and investment committee to develop a tailored investment strategy that is consistent with your culture, goals, preferences and risk profile.

Disciplined Investment Process

We follow a disciplined process that helps to address your organization’s changing needs and provides you with a potentially higher probability of achieving your long-term investment goals.

1

Investment Policy Statement Development and Review

Act as liaison between institutional clients and Merrill's Investment Policy Statement (IPS) service, which creates and modifies an IPS, based on the client’s investment goals and objectives.

2

Strategic Allocation Modeling

Customizable asset allocation based on the Chief Investment Office capital market assumptions.

3

Investment Manager Due Diligence

Recommend investment solutions leveraging Merrill's thorough and rigorous due diligence process.

4

Investment Manager Search and Selection

Advanced portfolio construction techniques combined with client specific objectives and Merrill's capital market guidance.

5

Portfolio Strategy

Leverage Merrill's global intellectual capital including tactical tilts to potentially help increase returns.

6

Performance Measurement

Review, quantify and evaluate performance to identify opportunities to refine the portfolio’s overall strategy, based on the Investment Policy Statement.

Endowments, Foundations and Nonprofits

We understand the issues nonprofits, endowments and foundations address in funding their missions in an ever-changing financial climate. Drawing on the global resources of Bank of America Corporation and its affiliates, we offer insight, guidance and personalized service to help institutions develop and execute investment strategies focused on what matters most to them and the people they serve.

Impact investing and/or Environmental Social Governance (ESG) investing has certain risks based on the fact that ESG criteria excludes securities of certain issuers for nonfinancial reasons and therefore, investors may forgo some market opportunities and the universe of investments available will be smaller.

Defined benefit plans

Whether your defined benefit plan is an active part of your overall benefit offering, is closed to new participants, or fully frozen, Bank of  America's service model allows you to outsource the many administrative tasks associated with the maintenance of a pension plan to fulfill plan obligations and manage risk.

Key services include:
• Investment consulting service
• Open architecture investment management platform
• Liability driven investment implementation
• Actuarial services and discretionary investment management

Additional resources for your organization

When you work with The DiPrinzio Group, you benefit from the experience and knowledge we’ve gained from working with many institutions across the nation. We’ll bring all the latest thinking, insights and research from across Bank of America Corporation:

Bank of America Global Commercial Banking (GCB) provides a full range of commercial banking services to help your organization meet today’s challenges head- on and fuel sustainable growth. Bank of America specialists are committed to providing institutions like yours with banking solutions, including cash management and lending while investment solutions are provided by Merrill. GCB offers institutions solutions designed  to help increase cash flow, streamline benefits plans and expand geographically. GCB brings clients the full capabilities of Bank of America Corporation and its affiliates paired with local service.*

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management (MLWM) provides access to market knowledge and financial experience. Merrill  can help your organization make decisions that are appropriate for its needs and goals. Our education and insights can help your organization understand what’s driving today’s markets and tomorrow’s potential global opportunities. MLWM serves clients across the wealth spectrum, with personal advisor relationships that helps each individual investor plan for and pursue their unique financial goals.

* “Bank of America” is the marketing name used by certain Global Banking and Global Markets businesses of Bank of America Corporation. Lending, other commercial banking activities, and trading in certain financial instruments are performed globally by banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC.

“Bank of America Merrill Lynch” is the marketing name for the global banking and global markets businesses of Bank of America Corporation. Lending, derivatives and other commercial banking activities are performed globally by banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC. Securities, strategic advisory, and other investment banking activities are performed globally by investment banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation (“Investment Banking Affiliates”), including, in the United States, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (MLPF&S) and Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp., both of which are registered as broker-dealers and members of FINRA and SIPC, and, in other jurisdictions, by locally registered entities. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp. are registered as futures commission merchants with the CFTC and are members of the NFA.

We’re committed to a high standard

Putting clients’ interests first isn’t new, and this isn’t a one-time event. Our clients have been at the center of everything we do since Charles Merrill founded Merrill over a hundred years ago.

Solutions for Individuals

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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, we 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.

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

Wealth Management Your Way

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

Your Financial Approach

We offer you access to the investing insights of Merrill, trust and fiduciary services from Bank of America Private Bank, and the banking convenience of Bank of America to help you pursue your goals. We will work to help you stay on track, regardless of what the markets are doing.

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FAMILY
Taking care of your family and other people in your life
  • Trust & Estate Services4
  • Education Funding1
  • Insurance3
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HEALTH
Planning for healthcare expenses now and in the future
  • Long-term Care Insurance3
  • Health Savings Account2
  • Disability Insurance3
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HOME
Upsizing, downsizing, remodeling or buying a vacation home
  • Home Loans2
  • Home Equity Lines of Credit2
  • Securities-Based Lending2
  • Credit Cards2
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WORK
Working in retirement, selling or starting a business
  • Bank of America Business Banking2
  • Exchange Funds1
  • Concentrated Stock Management1
  • Succession Planning1
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LEISURE
Spending your free time in meaningful ways
  • Credit Cards2
  • Securities-Based Lending2
  • Structured Lending2
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GIVING
Volunteering, mentoring others and giving to charities
  • Donor-Advised Funds4
  • Private Foundations4
  • Charitable Trusts4
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FINANCE
Using your finances to bring it all together
  • Merrill Investment Accounts1
  • Investment Advisory Accounts1
  • Alternative Investments1
  • Exchange-Traded Funds1
  • Mutual Funds1
  • Closed-end Funds1
  • Fixed Income Products1
  • Options1
  • Annuities3
  • Impact Portfolios1
  • Market-Linked Investments1
  • Securities-Based Lending2
  • Margin1
  • Home Loans2
  • Bank of America Checking and Savings Accounts2
  • Credit Cards2
  • Online Account Access1,2

¹ Investment products are offered by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated.
² Banking, mortgage and home equity products offered by Bank of America, N.A.
³ Insurance and annuity products offered through Merrill Lynch Life Agency Inc.
4 Trust and fiduciary services are provided by Bank of America Private Bank.

Philosophy

We 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, we will work with you to develop an approach designed to help address your financial needs.

Join us

Let’s Have a Conversation

There is no substitute for a one-on-one relationship with a Merrill financial advisor committed to your needs.