Merrill Lynch Financial Advisors in Farmington Hills Honored

Farmington Hills, MI– Merrill Lynch has announced that five Farmington Hills, MI financial advisors have been recognized on the 2019 Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" list.

The wealth management advisors are Phillip Serra, Jason Bowens, Nicole Christians, Aaron Romain, and Cary Wieting. Recognition on this 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.

Serra has 30 years of investment experience at Merrill Lynch. His areas of concentration include retirement planning, estate planning, tax planning, and commercial financing/retirement plan services to businesses. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Oakland University, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Bowens focuses on total wealth management for clients and develops customized strategies that are tailored to each individual’s unique financial needs. He graduated from Michigan Tech University in 1998 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and earned a Masters degrees Engineering from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from Indiana University – Kelley School of Business.

Nicole Christians joined Merrill Lynch in 2002 after graduating from the University of Michigan with degrees in history and philosophy. She works with high net worth clients on estate, wealth, and tax planning strategies.

Romain has been with Merrill Lynch since 1998. He works with high net worth Individuals and their families and offers them a personalized approach for portfolio management and retirement planning. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in psychology.

Wieting began his career as a financial advisor in 1983. His areas of focus include customized portfolio management, asset allocation advice, risk management, securities analysis, retirement income strategies and executive financial services. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1978 with a B.S. in Psychology.

The 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.