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Merrill Edge

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Merrill Edge
Company typeDivision
IndustryFinancial services
PredecessorQuick & Reilly Group
FoundedJune 21, 2010; 15 years ago (2010-06-21)
Area served
United States
Key people
Aron Levine
ServicesStockbroker
Electronic trading platform
Wealth management
Investment portfolios
Investment management
Financial planning
AUMUS$500 billion (2025)
Number of employees
4,000
ParentBank of America
Websitewww.merrilledge.com
This is a screenshot of some of the capabilities found in the Merrill Edge MarketPro platform
Merrill Edge MarketPro

Merrill Edge is an electronic trading platform and investment advisory service for investing in financial assets, including stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds, margin lending, mutual funds, and options. It is a subsidiary of Bank of America and was launched in 2010.

As of January 2025, Merrill Edge held $500 billion in assets under management from 4+ million clients,[1] and employed 4,000 advisors working in bank branches and call centers. The firm focuses on the mass affluent market. Merrill Edge receives revenue from interest income on cash and margin balances, commissions for order execution, management services, and it does not engage in payment for order flow.

Merrill Edge offers its services through a website and mobile app. The platform provides clients with access to financial advisors who can help them navigate the investment landscape and provide personalized investment guidance through investment advisory programs. Merrill Edge offers both phone and in-person consultations for clients enrolled in their Merrill Guided Investing with an Advisor program. Clients can also use the platform's robo-advisor service, Merrill Edge Guided Investing Online, which provides automated investment management services.[2]

Merrill Edge's services are available to individual investors, as well as small business owners and corporate clients. The platform provides a range of account types, including individual and joint brokerage accounts, retirement accounts such as IRA, Roth IRA, custodial accounts for minors, as well as 529 plans for education savings.[2]

For experienced investors Merrill Edge provides access to MarketPro, an advanced trading platform that provides advanced charting and analysis tools, as well as customizable trading layouts and real-time streaming data from major exchanges.[3]

It does not provide access to alternative investments, such as cryptocurrency, foreign exchange markets or futures contracts, international markets or penny stocks. Fractional share trading is not available.[3]

Merrill Edge offers a cash management account to hold un-invested cash. This account earns interest and offers debit cards and checks. Additionally, the automatic sweeps feature ensures that idle cash in investment accounts is automatically moved to the cash management account to earn interest.[3]

History

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The service was launched on June 21, 2010 by Bank of America.[4][5]

It merged Bank of America's online investing platform (Quick & Reilly) and Merrill Lynch's research, investment tools, and call center counsel.[6][7] At its inception, Merrill Edge had 500,000 customers from Bank of America's current clients.[6]

Bank of America launched the product to compete with Charles Schwab Corporation and Fidelity Investments for investors unprepared for comprehensive advice.[8] Bank of America aimed to build brand loyalty among younger investors who generally have strong technical skills and appreciate a higher degree of openness and personal oversight of their accounts.[6]

In 2015, Merrill Edge had $118 billion in 2 million customers' investable assets.[9][10]

It accumulated the assets through three main avenues: existing Bank of America customers (which accounted for around a third of the assets held), Merrill Lynch referrals (which accounted for a marginally higher proportion of the assets), and marketing (which accounted for the rest).[9][11] Bank of America added videoconferencing and interactive kiosks to bank branches in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and the Washington metropolitan area to promote Merrill Edge and to allow customers to receive counsel from employees based in Arizona, Florida, and New Jersey. Bank of America marketed Merrill Edge on their locations' windows and automated teller machines.[12]

In 2012, Merrill Edge released Face Retirement, a product that age progresses a submitted photo of a person to convince people to save for retirement earlier because a study has shown that younger people who think of themselves being older save more.[13][14]

In 2015, Merrill Edge had 2,500 advisors working in bank branches and call centers. Roughly 1,500 of the advisors worked in the bank branches.[9] Its "financial solution advisors" are "licensed broker-dealers and bankers who are paid a salary", whereas full-service brokers receive commissions.[7][15]

In 2015, Merrill Lynch brokers were told to refer customers with less than $250,000 in investments to Merrill Edge.[11] The intent was for the brokers to focus on wealthier investors and for Merrill Edge to reciprocate by sending customers with more than $250,000 in investments to Merrill Lynch.[11] In 2015, the Merrill Lynch broker-dealer incentive system changed to give brokers no money for managing accounts less than $250,000.[11] In 2014, Merrill Edge referred 30,000 customers to Merrill Lynch and U.S. Trust. Converted referrals gave Merrill Lynch an additional $4 billion to manage, which when apportioned among Merrill Lynch's 14,000 advisors is roughly $285,700 and two referrals per adviser. When referred to Merrill Lynch, Merrill Edge's customers sometimes do not migrate their accounts because of the higher costs for trades.[11]

Merrill Edge began offering to customers robo-advisors that employ algorithms in February of 2017.[16] At the end of 2017, assets of the largely self-directed and robo-advised customers at Merrill Edge totaled $177 billion.[17]

In May 2018, Merrill Lynch along with Merrill Edge launched ESG model portfolios.[18][19]

References

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  1. ^ "BofA's Consumer Investments Surpasses $500 Billion in Assets as Clients Choose High-Tech, High Touch Approach to Managing Finances" (Press release). Bank of America. January 10, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Merrill Guided Investing review". Bankrate.
  3. ^ a b c "10 Best Online Brokers and Trading Platforms". Forbes.
  4. ^ Veneziani, Vince (June 17, 2010). "Merrill Lynch Launching Online Discount Brokerage Next Monday". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
  5. ^ Horowitz, Jed (February 21, 2014). Hay, Andrew (ed.). "Merrill executive loses regional sales post in western U.S." Reuters. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
  6. ^ a b c Gasparro, Annie (June 18, 2010). "Merrill Makes Move Into Online Investing". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Giannone, Joseph A. (November 21, 2011). "Merrill Edge adds advisers, clients and assets". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
  8. ^ Barr, Colin (January 24, 2011). "'Mass affluent' are strapped too, BofA finds". Fortune. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c Wursthorn, Michael (May 7, 2015). "Merrill Edge May Add 'Robo' Advice". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
  10. ^ Son, Hugh (November 6, 2015). "A Money-Managing Robot Is About to Join BofA's Thundering Herd". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
  11. ^ a b c d e Wursthorn, Michael (May 5, 2015). "Merrill Lynch's Brokers Want an Edge". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
  12. ^ Farzad, Roben; Son, Hugh (March 2, 2011). "The Bull Whisperer". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
  13. ^ Benoit, David (December 4, 2012). "BofA's Merrill Edge: Here to Make You Look Old". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
  14. ^ Tausche, Kayla; Bergman, Jesse (December 19, 2012). "Your 'Face' and Your Retirement at 100". CNBC.
  15. ^ Dilts, Elizabeth (February 23, 2015). Wilchins, Dan; Pickering, John (eds.). "Bank of America chips away at brokerage industry truce". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
  16. ^ Thrasher, Michael (February 9, 2017). "Merrill's New Robo Advisor Is Out In The Wild". WealthManagement.com.
  17. ^ Braswell, Mason (November 5, 2021). "Merrill Edge Assets Jump 32%, BofA Sets 3,000 Target for Bank-Based Advisor Roster". AdvisorHub.
  18. ^ "Merrill Lynch and Merrill Edge introduce new ESG model portfolios". Private Banker International. May 4, 2018.
  19. ^ Zulz, Emily (May 7, 2018). "Merrill Lynch and Merrill Edge Launch Impact Portfolios: Portfolio Products". ThinkAdvisor.
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