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BAC Institutional Services

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BAC Institutional Services believes that good relationships are built through teamwork and involvement, delivered through our advisors, wealth management client associates and access to the global investment capabilities of Merrill and the banking convenience of Bank of America. We want to be your primary source for financial advice and guidance. And we want you to value the dedication and diligence offered to you at each step of the financial planning process.

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

Mission

We focus on principles, plan tactics and targeted, effective education to help your organization pursue its goals and help your employees pursue their best financial lives.

Approach

You and your employees are at the center of everything we do. That’s why we take the time to understand the needs and goals of your organization and its employees and then work with you to create a plan that aligns with your benefits philosophy, objectives and budget. We can be a knowledgeable resource for you and can help you develop action-based strategies to help improve plan participation. We can also support you with access to investment and fiduciary services, employee education and ongoing involvement in your plan including plan check-ins.

Retirement Benefits Consultant

As Bank of America Retirement Benefits Consultants (RBC), BAC Institutional Services is one of a select group of highly qualified and credentialed Merrill  advisors specialized in defined contribution plans who can add value to your plan by:

  • Offering access to 3(21) fiduciary services1
  • Helping you shape your investment strategies
  • Offering thoughtful advice without a proprietary investment requirement
  • Providing periodic reporting and helping you understand results and measurements to assist you in managing your plan over time
  • Working with you to create a plan that is designed to drive employee engagement and positive participant behavior
  • Assisting in the delivery of employee financial wellness programs and education
  • Educating employees on connecting their life priorities with their finances to help them pursue what matters most to them
1Fiduciary Advisory Services is an investment advisory program sponsored by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MLPF&S” or “Merrill”). MLPF&S is a registered broker-dealer, Member SIPC and a wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp. MLPF&S. MLPF&S 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.

Meet the Team

Our team is comprised of talented and experienced individuals committed to building strong client 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.

Carl Cafaro

Barron's "Top 100 Private Wealth Management Teams" 2023, 2022
Published annually in April. Rankings based on data as of December 31 of prior year.

Barron's "Top 1,200 Financial Advisors: State-by-State" 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020
Published annually in February - March. Rankings based on data as of September 30 of the prior year.

Forbes "Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" 2023, 2022, 2021
Published annually Jan- April. Rankings based on data as of June 30 of prior year.

Forbes “America’s Top Wealth Management Teams High Net Worth" 2022
Published on November 8, 2022. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2022.*

Brian A Rossano

Financial Times "401 Top Retirement Advisers" 2020, 2019
Published annually May - Oct. Rankings based on data as of Dec 31 of prior year.

Solutions for Institutions

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And More

Beyond our experience, we offer access to the deep intellectual capital and broad capabilities of Bank of America Corporation and its affiliates. If we identify a need we can’t service ourselves, we can connect you with the people and resources to help you. Through our network of advisors, we strive to deliver strategies to help you manage the day-to-day and long-term responsibilities required in pursuing your institution’s goals. As we work together to address your evolving needs, we can help make the broad capabilities of Bank of America Corporation feel more accessible.

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.

For Employees

All our efforts revolve around helping your employees pursue their goals. With Bank of America Corporation’s long legacy of service excellence, we take a holistic approach to helping your employees connect their life priorities and financial priorities—in and beyond their benefit plans. By broadening our view to include an employee’s entire financial picture, both in and out of plan, we believe we can help your employees better manage and gain control of their finances.

  • Holistic approach to helping improve overall financial wellness
  • Online investment advisory programs that offer participant advice; Personal Retirement Strategy that provides online advice and guidance to help participants pursue their retirement income goals through a recommended asset allocation and, if the participant elects, a discretionary managed account, Merrill Managed, for an additional fee or Advice Access that helps participants by providing asset allocation recommendations and ongoing investment management through its optional PersonalManager® service, for a fee.
  • Comprehensive employee education program

Personal Retirement Strategy is an online investment advisory program sponsored by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (“MLPF&S” or “Merrill”) that uses a probabilistic approach to determine the likelihood that participants in the program will accumulate sufficient total assets to achieve their annual retirement income goal. The recommendations provided by Personal Retirement Strategy may include a higher level of investment risk than a participant may be personally comfortable with. Participants are strongly advised to consider their personal goals, overall risk tolerance and retirement horizon before accepting any recommendations made by Personal Retirement Strategy. Participants should carefully review the explanation of the methodology used, including key assumptions and limitations, as well as a description of services and related fees, which is provided in the Personal Retirement Strategy Brochure (ADV Part 2A). It can be obtained through Benefits OnLine or through the Retirement Benefits Contact Center.

Advice Access is an online investment advisory program sponsored by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (“MLPF&S” or “Merrill”) that uses a probabilistic approach to determine the likelihood that participants in the program may be able to achieve their specified annual retirement income goal and/or to identify a potential wealth outcome that could be realized. The recommendations provided by Advice Access may include a higher level of investment risk than a participant may be personally comfortable with. Participants are strongly advised to consider their personal goals, overall risk tolerance, and retirement horizon before accepting any recommendations made by Advice Access. Participants should carefully review the explanation of the methodology used, including key assumptions and limitations as well as a description of services and related fees, which is provided in the Advice Access disclosure document (ADV Part 2A). It can be obtained through Benefits OnLine or through the Retirement Benefits Contact Center.

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.

IMPORTANT: The projections or other information shown in the Advice Access program regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future results. Results may vary with each use and over time.

Workplace benefits website – Our insights

Learn about effective ways to help assess whether you’re getting the most from your benefits plan

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.