Michigan Merrill Advisors Take Home Forbes, Barron's honors

Merrill advisors from Southeast Michigan recently took home several honors recognizing the nation’s top wealth advisor

First, Merrill wealth management advisors Kristina Abro and Melissa Spickler have been named to Forbes’ 2022 “America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors” list. To compile the 2022 list, SHOOK Research analysts conducted more than 16,000 interviews with nominees. Criteria included client service, compliance records, community involvement, the investment process, assets under care and tenure in the industry.

Melissa Spickler joined Merrill in 1980 and is the founder of the Spickler Wealth Management Group in Bloomfield Hills. In addition to providing traditional advice and guidance, she helps clients pursue their objectives by building and managing her own personalized or defined strategies. This is the fifth time Melissa has been named to the Forbes ‘Top Women Wealth Advisors’ list.

Kristina Abro works in Merrill’s Auburn Hills office and has been a financial advisor with Merrill since 2012, after graduating from Central Michigan University. Kristina, a Rochester Hills resident, employs a broad approach to asset and liability management while simultaneously using her extensive and modern understanding of the financial sector to benefit her clients. Kristina focuses on offering a comprehensive approach to managing wealth that begins with getting to know a client and the client’s family, financial situation and what matters most to them.

In separate honors, Spickler was also named to the 2022 Barron’s “Top 1,200 Financial Advisors” list, along with Leo Stevenson, Resident Director of Merrill’s Wyandotte office. The annual Barron’s list recognizes the most outstanding financial advisors for each state who represent the highest levels of ethical standards, professionalism, and success in the business.

Stevenson lives on Grosse Ile, is a graduate of Roosevelt High School in Wyandotte, and earned a Financial Administration degree from Michigan State University. He has been with Merrill since 1996.

Stevenson holds the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor designation and the Retirement Benefits Consultant title. He works with his clients to understand their concerns and priorities, developing wealth management strategies to help achieve their goals, focusing on retirement, personal, and business planning. Stevenson has been with Merrill Lynch since 1996. Since the opening of the Wyandotte Merrill Lynch office, more than 2,000 clients have entrusted nearly $2 billion in assets to Mr. Stevenson’s team. He has trained more than 1,000 financial advisors across the United States in investment philosophy and practice management from 2014 to 2022. Leo is active in several community groups including being a member of the Board of Directors for Focus: HOPE, the Wyandotte Downtown District Authority, finance committee member of a local parish, and many philanthropic endeavors.