Merrill Lynch Financial Advisors in Bloomfield Hills Honored

Five Merrill Lynch financial advisors based in Bloomfield Hills, MI have been recognized on the 2019 Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" list.

The wealth management advisors are Philip Appel, Derek Ashcroft,Steven Briggs, John Low, and Melissa Spickler. To be recognized on this 2019 Forbes "Best-In-State" list is an industry honor and acknowledgment of their accomplishments. Nationwide, 1009 Merrill Lynch advisors are included on this year’s list, the most of any firm.

Appel has 25 years' experience at Merrill Lynch helping clients acquire, grow and preserve assets over successive generations. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan.

Ashcraft has been a professional in the financial services industry since 1995, He provides a wide array of financial and investment services to a select group of clients. These services include retirement planning, investment planning, estate planning, wealth planning and risk management. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University.

Briggs brings 32 years of service to client needs. Among the many needs of these clients are investment advisory, cash management and life cycle planning services. He is honored to have many long term client relationships, often flowing from generation to generation. He is a graduate if Vanderbilt University.

Low also began his career in the financial services industry as an investment professional in 1995. He brings experience in wealth transfer, asset management, portfolio design and implementation, and retirement income replacement strategies. He is a graduate of Michigan State University.

Spickler joined Merrill Lynch in 1980. She is a qualified Portfolio Manager who, in addition to providing traditional advice and guidance, can help clients pursue their objectives by building and managing her own personalized or defined strategies which may incorporate individual stocks and bonds, Merrill Lynch model portfolios and third-party investment strategies. Melissa graduated from Michigan State University.

The 2019 Forbes "Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" ranking was developed by SHOOK Research and is based on in-person and telephone due diligence meetings to evaluate each advisor qualitatively, a major component of a ranking algorithm that includes: client retention, industry experience, review of compliance records, firm nominations; and quantitative criteria, including: assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Investment performance is not a criterion because client objectives and risk tolerances vary, and advisors rarely have audited performance reports. Rankings are based on the opinions of SHOOK Research, LLC and not representative nor indicative of any one client’s

Bank of America Corporation

Merrill Lynch represents multiple business areas within Bank of America Corporation's wealth and investment management division including Merrill Lynch (North America and International) and Private Banking and Investments Group. As of December 31, 2017, ML entities had approximately $2.31 trillion in client balances. Client Balances consists of the following assets of clients held in their ML accounts: assets under management (AUM) of ML entities, client brokerage assets, assets in custody of ML entities, loan balances and deposits of ML clients held at Bank of America, N.A. and affiliated banks.