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Merrill lynch

Smouni Bradley Group

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Merrill Lynch
Wealth Management


Understanding your life priorities is an important part of the relationship with you. It’s not just about markets and returns, it’s about what matters most to you.  We can collaborate to help create a personalized plan designed around you, your family, your goals and your aspirations.

Welcome

At The Smouni Bradley Group, we work closely with two and three generations of families who’ve been with us for decades and continue to refer others. While diverse in their backgrounds and achievements, our clients value the intelligence, insights and personal attention we provide. Like our clients, we are passionate about families and building multi-generational relationships.

Who do we serve? Many are specialists and other physicians across the U.S. who are hospital-based, or own their practice. We’ve also become knowledgeable in assisting business owners up to and through the sale of their enterprises, and a growing circle of divorced and widowed women who can benefit from our care and consideration.

By doing more for fewer clients, we are able to spend more time accounting for the people and passions in a client’s life. This allows us to make more enlightened recommendations – the ones that create positive outcomes for decades to come.

Our team is led by two experienced financial advisors. Both hold the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® certification from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.  

Beyond managing clients’ portfolios, we may suggest cash balance plans and group retirement plans, as well as residential, securities-based, equipment financing and practice-based solutions for physicians through Bank of America. In addition, we also look to coordinate our tax minimization and estate planning services with the efforts of clients’ CPAs and attorneys.

On a personal note, our team has a natural affinity for appreciating clients and their families. In fact, a hallmark of our offering is the outstanding service that clients receive. Our knowledgeable wealth management client associates handle questions and requests, in addition to connecting clients with specialist across Merrill and Bank of America.

If you are seeking a sophisticated, high-caliber level of financial acumen and personal attention, we look forward to showing you a rewarding wealth management experience.

Planning is Everything

At The Smouni Bradley Group, we find that wisdom is our reward for a lifetime of listening. In fact, as seasoned and sensitive advisors, we are often surprised by the expectations of new clients. Most have only an inkling of the scope of capabilities we bring to the table.

From the outset, we ask questions that clients may not have heard from a previous advisor. As active facilitators, we “sit next to clients” – looking at matters from each client’s perspective rather than our own. This inspires our focus on results that hold meaning for clients and minimize their effort in achieving them.

Beyond dollars and cents, experience tells us the value of an advisor should be measured by the lifestyles and legacies that clients enjoy. Each day (and many evenings), we serve as a ready resource for our time-strapped clients – working behind the scenes to address their goals and holes (pieces of their financial puzzles that may have been ignored previously).

During tough and good times, we’re often seen as “life advisors” – exhibiting patience and empathy, while providing helpful next steps.

Whether a client hopes to expand a practice, sell an enterprise, or move forward after a difficult life event, we first help them visualize their full financial picture – from business and personal investments to retirement accounts, liabilities, insurance and beneficiaries.

From there, we craft a real-world financial strategy that embraces a client’s past, present and ambitions, as well as their liquidity needs, investment timeline, and comfort with risk. Taking direction from the firm’s Chief Investment Office and input our firm’s award-winning research analysts, we help diversify clients’ assets across classes, sectors and borders. We also explain the rationales behind our recommendations, so that clients understand what they own and why.

The clients we serve care about results and relationships. In turn, we see clients as physicians caring for patients and their children, as business people focused on retaining employees and finding time for family, and as divorced and widowed women re-defining their goals and looking for steady footing.

 By treating clients like people – not portfolios – we are better equipped to them navigating rewarding financial journeys.


*The Chief Investment Office (CIO) provides thought leadership on wealth management, investment strategy and global markets; portfolio management solutions; due diligence; and solutions oversight and data analytics. CIO viewpoints are developed for Bank of America Private Bank, a division of Bank of America, N.A., (“Bank of America”) and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (“MLPF&S” or “Merrill”), a registered broker-dealer, registered investment adviser and a wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp. This information should not be construed as investment advice and is subject to change. It is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be either a specific offer by Bank of America, Merrill or any affiliate to sell or provide, or a specific invitation for a consumer to apply for, any particular retail financial product or service that may be available.

*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.

White-Glove Service

At The Smouni Bradley Group, we maintain that “time spent with clients” is critical to the extra measure of service we provide. For that reason, we limit the number of households we serve to those who seek a highly personalized guidance and highly attentive service.

We believe that clients who refer others do so because of the rigor of our service, our focus on simplifying, organizing and optimizing their family’s financial affairs, and ability to be a reliable and responsive one-stop resource. We also believe that “anything less than outstanding service” is less than clients deserve. To this end, we make it our business to make clients’ goals ours. We feel proud to treat clients like members of our families and often feel like members of theirs.

To provide genuine “family wealth” planning, we do everything possible to understand the mindsets and motivations of all stakeholders. From open communications to family meetings, we can explore family dynamics and the people who inspire clients’ diligence and hard work. And because a family’s education can lead to protect their wealth for decades, we work to help clients’ children become more knowledgeable, disciplined and independent.

While we stay in close contact with clients, we remind them to call us for any reason – if they have a financially related question or need a second opinion. It is our hope to build a warm relationship with clients so that critical financial discussions can give way to casual and comfortable conversations. By doing our jobs well, we can bring clients the time and perspective they need to make wise, unhurried decisions.


Our experienced wealth management client associates are the “glue” of our group:

 • Traci Telford has spent more than 25 years at Merrill and is highly skilled in handling clients’ transactional, account and administrative requests. She not only recognizes clients’ needs, but their voices when they call. Proud to follow-up and follow-through, Traci keeps us updated on client issues before they become problems.

• Rickea Hansberry joined Merrill in 2019. Her knowledge and familiarity with lending, credit and everyday banking solutions offered by Bank of America is especially helpful to clients who can benefit from the firm’s vast resources and services.

What Clients Can Expect

At the Smouni Bradley Group, we’ve chosen to serve fewer clients with excellence, rather than many clients with mediocrity. This principle allows us to devote significant time to understanding what’s on a client’s mind and in their heart, the value they place on money, their priorities, and what role we should play in their financial life.

As our client, you can expect that we will:

• Measure our success over time, as defined by you. From our very first conversation, your goals become ours. Equally important, we want you to enjoy the ride and feel empowered along the way.

• Help you avoid unexpected financial surprises. As proactive advisors, we try to help you plan and prepare for likely and unlikely circumstances, as well as educate you whenever possible.

• Strive to help you feel comfortable, financially and emotionally. Our strategies are presented and communicated in an uncomplicated manner. We are here to help – not show you how much we know.

• View you as part of your family tree and consider the multi-generational impact of any consideration. Input from your parents, children and grandchildren can help us design more effective strategies.

• Encourage you to see us as a “first call” and “go-to” resource.” We are quick to respond and provide thoughtful perspectives. It is our custom to deliver highly attentive service and a deeply analytical financial approach.

• Make well-informed investment recommendations – utilizing the firm’s Chief Investment Office for overall strategic direction and award-winning research recommendations from our firm’s analysts. We are mindful of tax-efficiencies and your comfort with risk. Your portfolio will reflect multiple considerations and be adjusted over time in response to market conditions, your evolving situation and objectives.

• Explain what actual outcomes look like. Going beyond spreadsheets and simulations, we will illustrate alternate, real-world scenarios and discuss them with you.

• Work to align our efforts with those of your CPA and attorney – to coordinate tax minimization and estate planning strategies and enhance results.

• Introduce you to specialists at Bank of America – whether you’re looking to purchase a first or second home, a car, consolidate your banking, access practice-based solutions, securities-based lending, or aircraft and marine financing.


*The Chief Investment Office (CIO) provides thought leadership on wealth management, investment strategy and global markets; portfolio management solutions; due diligence; and solutions oversight and data analytics. CIO viewpoints are developed for Bank of America Private Bank, a division of Bank of America, N.A., (“Bank of America”) and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (“MLPF&S” or “Merrill”), a registered broker-dealer, registered investment adviser and a wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp. This information should not be construed as investment advice and is subject to change. It is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be either a specific offer by Bank of America, Merrill or any affiliate to sell or provide, or a specific invitation for a consumer to apply for, any particular retail financial product or service that may be available.

*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.

Who We Are

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.

Jeremy Rumpf

Employee Benefits Specialist

Bank of America, N.A.

Samantha C Sylvester

Wealth Strategies Advisor

Bank of America, N.A.

Terry Daniel Fowler

Wealth Management Lending Officer

Bank of America, N.A.

NMLS #565738

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 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.