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Merrill lynch

Woods Lutz Wealth Management Group

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Merrill Lynch
Wealth Management


Many advisors believe their relationships with clients are based on investment performance.
We believe our performance is based on the depth and breadth of our relationships.
 
Getting to know your values is our primary goal.
Our process addresses your investment objectives, time horizon and risk tolerance.
 These factors determine your financial strategy and ultimately,
your investment performance.

WELCOME

At The Woods Lutz Wealth Management Group, we pride ourselves on the value we’ve delivered to clients for more than three decades. Taking many forms, that value stems from our ability and commitment to provide an extra measure of insight and informed guidance many clients have not experienced previously.

Who do we serve? Accomplished men and women who want to accomplish more. Spanning generations and the nation’s geography, our largely referred clientele includes physicians and other professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners, and individuals who’ve experienced divorce or the loss of a spouse.

Experience tells us many investors are confused – with 24/7 “financial noise” and conflicting points of view. While certainly financially astute, many of our clients come to us in search of a sensible, real-world strategy they can understand and follow.

As an established team that has managed clients’ money and emotions amid the greed of the 1990s, and downside volatility of 2000, 2008, 2020 and 2022, we feel good knowing virtually all of those clients remain with us today – and have referred many others. We believe that comes in large part from our determination to mitigate investment risk, insulate client wealth through various forms of insurance, and integrate retirement, estate and legacy planning strategies into a client’s overall strategy, when appropriate. 

Encouraging you to see us as a “first call” for any financial matter, we enjoy digging for the right solution and offering advice in a timely fashion. Because thoughtful estate planning is critically important to you and your family, we look to coordinate with your CPAs and attorneys throughout the year, not just at tax time. We also provide access to specialists at Bank of America for residential, securities-based and business lending, as well as practice-based solutions for physicians.

What do we believe?

  • The more you know, the better off you are.
  • The more we know about you, the better we can meet and exceed your expectations. (That’s why we work closely with both spouses, explain things in simple terms, and educate at every opportunity.)
  • While our titles are financial advisors, we feel privileged to serve as “life advisors” – standing with and behind you when you need us most.
  • Our ability to serve and desire to help are what people richly deserve.

Planning is Everything

At The Woods Lutz Wealth Management Group, we provide a planning-based approach whose depth and breadth clearly distinguishes our practice and the enduring benefits our clients enjoy.
 
As you will find, we put a premium on listening and learning from you. Doing both enables us to appreciate your values, visions and greatest concerns.

Recognizing your life experiences and attitudes toward wealth are unique, we don’t make assumptions. Instead, we make time to appreciate your mindset and motivations.

At the outset, we will decide together if we are a good fit for you. Given our highly personalized, multi-faceted approach, we want to be sure you benefit from the value we provide.

In early discussions with you and your spouse, we may ask:
 

“Who do you love and for whom are you responsible? Tell us about your children, parents and career. What is your greatest achievement? Your worst investment? After you die, what is your hope for the people you leave behind? Why have you come here now? What role would you like us to play?”

 

 

These are the goals we most often hear from clients. Perhaps yours are similar:

  • Retire without compromising their lifestyle or worrying about outliving their income.
  • Play a positive role in the financial lives of their children and grandchildren.
  • Care for their parents when they need it.
  • Leave a meaningful legacy to families, institutions or organizations.

 

In addition to your goals, we will look for opportunities to fine-tune your financial picture – areas which may have been ignored in a previous advisory relationship. We will ask about your trusts, wills or other important provisions. This often leads to better insurance planning and legacy planning or, at minimum, a simple reminder to update beneficiaries.

Only after these critical steps, will we ask about – and examine – your investments and other assets, stock options, and retirement plan investments. We will also scrutinize your personal and professional liabilities, how you manage debt, and opportunities for you to improve cash flow.

Your achievements, hard work, and values have led to financial and personal success. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to help manage your wealth responsibly.

Serving Entire Families

At The Woods Lutz Wealth Management Group, we measure our success by the tenure of our client relationships, the referrals we receive from clients and their advisors, and our ability to enhance their wealth and well-being across generations. It is our intent to help clients make informed decisions about the direction and scope of their legacy.

Please note: Given our keen focus on estate planning services, we often see clients as “families” – rather than individuals. In fact, we will strongly suggest meeting with both spouses early on and throughout each relationship, and later, with adult children. Drawing inspiration from hardworking families, we find it essential and rewarding to educate “the next generation” – so they appreciate the values and visions of their parents and how wise financial habits contribute to their own lives. Bringing all stakeholders to the table can create immeasurable benefits for years to come.

The makeup of our team allows us to relate well to “younger and older” family members. In fact, we cater to a broad spectrum of people at various stages of their lives and the wealth continuum. Whether they are building wealth and careers, nearing retirement or a long-anticipated liquidity event, we work collaboratively to create consistent value.

As an established team of advisors, we recognize “wealth” encompasses multiple aspects of our clients’ lives, both qualitative and quantitative. We know wealth is ultimately personal and must embrace a client’s goals – for them and the people they love.

When it comes to investments, we encourage clients to share our long-term perspective on achieving steady growth – relative to the risk they are willing to take. Formulating customized portfolios reflecting input from our firm’s Chief Investment Office and award-winning research, we utilize decades long relationships with select investment managers, Merrill’s research based equity portfolios and ETF model portfolios. Experience tells us to avoid complexity, which we often find compromises results.

Finally, it is our practice to serve select families that typically share similar challenges and opportunities. This focus has evolved into a unique refinement of our ability to serve. It is also our practice to treat clients like members of our own families. We are fortunate many clients feel the same. 



*Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM) is a division of Bank of America Corporation. The Chief Investment Office, which provides investment strategies, due diligence, portfolio construction guidance and wealth management solutions for GWIM clients, is part of the Investment Solutions Group (ISG) of GWIM.
*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.
*Institutional Investor magazine announced BofA Global Research as one of the Top Global Research Firms in 2022 based on surveys held throughout the year. The magazine creates rankings of the top research analysts in a wide variety of specializations, drawn from the choices of portfolio managers and other investment professionals at more than 1,000 firms. 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. Learn more about the methodology at Institutional Investor. Rankings and recognition from Institutional Investor are no guarantee of future investment success and do not ensure that a current or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance results and such rankings should not be construed as an endorsement.

What Clients Can Expect

While there are several aspects to providing you with superior wealth management, we at The Woods Lutz Wealth Management Group believe it all begins by having an intimate understanding of your financial situation, mindset and motivations.

As our client, you can also expect we will:

  • Abide by our principles: Be proactive, professional, transparent and respectful. Always be fact-driven – and encourage you to do the same[WDRN1] .
  • Explain what actual outcomes look like. Going beyond spreadsheets and simulations, we will illustrate real-world scenarios and discuss them with you. We will also serve as a “sounding board” for your ideas and remind you, “If a question has dollar sign attached to it, “call us first.” It is our privilege to act as a responsible steward of your wealth.
  • Talk to you regularly. Most conversations with clients revolve around their families (and ours), world events and other topics that could affect your financial decisions. In addition to your questions, we will address your less obvious concerns. The more we ask, the more we know.
  • Aim to prevent you from making poor financial decisions, at the wrong time – especially during periods of volatility and personal difficulty.
  • Draw upon the global resources of Bank of America, N.A. Whether you’re looking to purchase a home or car, expand your business, finance equipment, or meet with a trust specialist, we will expedite matters on your behalf.
  • Do our best work as your needs evolve. We enjoy rolling up our sleeves. The more you ask us to do, the more value we can deliver.
  • Craft your investment strategy with considerations for estate planning always in mind – addressing your needs and those of principal beneficiaries. We are quite familiar with the fiduciary challenges and complexities of individual and family trusts.
  • Utilize our firm’s Chief Investment Office for strategic direction and formulate a diversified, risk-managed portfolio for you – and you alone – based on your objectives, liquidity needs, investment timeline and personal preferences.
  • Help you see the big picture – especially when you ask, “Am I going to be okay?” We will remind you politics and downside market volatility are short-term issues, and a snapshot in time is just that. Vital to your success is a long-term strategy with careful oversight and adjustment when necessary.
  • Have long memories. Over the years, many clients have shared similar financial and familial circumstances. When helpful, we can draw upon our experiences with those clients, when it proves beneficial.
Ultimately, we find clients choose to work with us, stay with us, and refer others because of the value of the relationship we nurture and deliver – and because we explain fully, follow up, and follow through.

 

*Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM) is a division of Bank of America Corporation. The Chief Investment Office, which provides investment strategies, due diligence, portfolio construction guidance and wealth management solutions for GWIM clients, is part of the Investment Solutions Group (ISG) of GWIM.

Meet the Team

Supported by the global resources of Merrill, our 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.

Jodi Cody

Wealth Management Lending Officer

Bank of America, N.A.

NMLS #1516670

Araceli Phelps

Wealth Management Banking Specialist

Merrill

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

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

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    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 we can help you create a financial approach that reflects your personality. Only then can we 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.