Merrill Names New Private Wealth Head

Hans, Glenfield and Fahmy will assume their new responsibilities immediately and will work together, with Plaus, to ensure a smooth transition, according to the firm. Plaus will retire at the end of March.

“We have a deep bench of industry-leading talent with diverse perspectives,” Andy Sieg, president, Merrill Wealth Management, said in a statement. “Lindsay, Keith and Nancy are top-performing leaders who will continue to advance our modern Merrill strategy in these expanded roles.”

Merrill Wealth Management previously had a major leadership shakeup in 2021, when Bill Lorenz and Paul Lambert retired after three decades with the firm. At the same time, the company named Hans and Chandler Root division executives, a shift that took effect after Lorenz and Lambert stepped down at the end of that year.

Shortly after that, the firm revamped leadership across the wealth management business by placing more responsibilities on heads Sieg and Katy Knox. Certain product teams were moved under Sieg and Knox to better align with client needs.

2022 Earnings

In 2022, Merrill Wealth Management achieved record full-year revenue of $18.1 billion, according to the company. It added 25,000 net new households last year, including a fourth-quarter record of 8,500, up 27% from a year earlier, representing its strongest quarter since Q2 2019, it said.

Bank of America concluded 2022 with 19,273 advisors across the wealth continuum; up 400 advisors in the quarter and 800 since the middle of 2022, it said.

Over the past five years, the total number of clients served by Private Wealth Management advisors grew by more than 30%, while client balances within the business increased 46%, according to the company.

During the same period, alternative investment assets at the firm doubled and the number of advisors using artificial intelligence solutions increased by 33%, according to the firm.

(Pictured: Lindsay Hans, who is succeeding Don Plaus as head of Merrill’s Private Wealth Management, International and Institutional.)