¹ Institutional Investment Consulting is a non-discretionary investment advisory program sponsored by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated available to institutions with $20 million or more in assets.

 

² The client is responsible for the acceptance and final adoption of the IPS. 

 

³ Merrill Lynch Investment Advisory Program (IAP) is an investment advisory program sponsored by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MPLFS” or “Merrill”).

 

⁴ Defined Benefit Discretionary (OCIO) is an investment advisory service sponsored by Merrill, available in either an advisory model or full discretionary model.

 

⁵ Institutional Investments & Philanthropic Solutions (“Philanthropic Solutions”) is part of Bank of America Private Bank, a division of Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation (“BofA Corp.”). Trust and fiduciary services and other banking products are provided by wholly owned banking affiliates of BofA Corp., including Bank of America, N.A. Brokerage services may be performed by wholly owned brokerage affiliates of BofA Corp., including Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MLPF&S” or “Merrill”).

 

⁶ Philanthropic Discretionary Investment Management (OCIO) offered through Bank of America Private Bank. Bank of America will act as a co-fiduciary for investment management and will manage plan assets consistently with the duties and standards established under ERISA.

 

⁷ Extel, formerly Institutional Investor Research, announced BofA Global Research as one of the Top Global Research Firms in 2024 based on surveys held throughout the year. Extel creates rankings of the top research analysts in a wide variety of specializations, drawn from the choices of portfolio managers and other investment professionals. The 2024 Global Research Leaders ranking lists sell-side research providers by the combined total number of positions earned across Extel’s 2024 research team surveys. Results of each survey are published separately throughout the year, beginning in March 2024 with the Japan Research Team and concluding in December 2024 with the Global Fixed Income Research Team. Rankings for each poll are determined strictly by using numerical scores. Extel takes the number of votes awarded to each firm in a sector and weight it in relation to the size of the institution responding and rating it awarded. Firms are designated runners-up when their scores fall within 35 percent of the third-place scores. BofA Global Research is research produced by BofA Securities, Inc (“BofAS”) and/or one or more of its affiliates. BofAS is a registered broker-dealer, Member SIPC, and wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation. Rankings and recognition from Extel are no guarantee of future investment success and do not ensure that a current or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance results and such rankings should not be construed as an endorsement.

 

⁸ 2021 Bank of America Annual report. 

 

⁹ Bankofamerica.com.

 

¹⁰ Number approximate as of October 2025, Bank of America Corporation.

 

¹¹ Barron’s “Top 100 Institutional Consulting Teams” list. Published on May 9, 2025. Rankings based on data as of December 31, 2024. Rankings are based on the opinions of Barron’s who evaluated advisors on a range of criteria including institutional investment assets overseen by the advisor and his/her team, the revenue generated by those assets, the number of clients served, and the number of team members and their regulatory records. Also considered were the advanced professional designations and accomplishment represented on the team. Rankings do not reflect any one client's experience, guarantee of future performance or investment success, investment outcome and does not represent an endorsement of the advisors. Compensation to Barron's was not received from anyone in exchange for rankings for the study. Barron’s is a trademark of Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. In 2025, 19 MIC advisors (across 12 MIC teams) were named on a list of 100 teams.

 

¹² The Barron's “Top 1,200 Financial Advisors" list. Published on March 7, 2025. Rankings based on data as of September 30, 2024. Opinions are Barron’s who evaluated advisors with a minimum of seven years financial services experience and employed at their current firm for at least one year. Ranking spots determined by each state's population and wealth. Other quantitative and qualitative measures include assets under management, revenues generated for the firm, quality of practice, regulatory records, internal company documents and 100-plus points of advisor-provided data. Rankings do not reflect any one client's experience, endorse any advisor and do not guarantee future investment success. Compensation was not received from anyone for the study. Barron’s is a trademark of Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. In 2025, 33 MIC advisors were named on a list of 1,200.

 

¹³ The Barron’s “Top 100 Financial Advisors” list. Published on May 9, 2025. Rankings based on data as of December 31, 2024. Opinions are Barron’s who evaluated advisors with a minimum of seven years financial services experience and employed at their current firm for at least one year. Other quantitative and qualitative measures include assets under management, client satisfaction/retention, regulatory records, internal company documents and community involvement of advisor-provided data. Rankings do not reflect any one client's experience, future performance or outcome, endorse any advisor. Compensation was not received from anyone in exchange for rankings for the study. Barron’s is a trademark of Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. In 2025, 3 MIC advisors were named on a list of 100.

 

¹⁴ The Barron’s “Top 100 Women Financial Advisors” list. Published on July 18, 2025. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2025. Opinions are Barron’s who evaluated advisors with a minimum of seven years financial services experience and employed at their current firm for at least one year. Other quantitative and qualitative measures include assets under management, client satisfaction/retention, regulatory records, internal company documents, return on assets among other data points. Rankings do not reflect any one-client's experience, future performance or outcome, endorse any advisor and are available for client evaluation only. Compensation was not received from anyone in exchange for rankings for the study. Barron’s is a trademark of Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. In 2025, 1 MIC advisors was named on a list of 100.

 

¹⁵ The Barron’s “Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams” list. Published on May 9, 2025. Rankings based on data as of December 31, 2024. Rankings are based on the opinions of Barron's which include rankings that specialize in serving individuals and families. Rankings include team size and shape, regulatory records and credentials of their members and resources available to them. Rankings include minimum of seven years financial services experience and currently at their firm one year minimum. Qualitative and quantitative calculations include client assets, return on assets, client satisfaction/retention, compliance history and community involvement plus other considerations. Barron's does not receive compensation from anyone for rankings and are not considered a guarantee of any future investment success and should not be considered an endorsement. Barron’s is a trademark of Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. In 2025, 11 MIC advisors (across 9 teams) were named on a list of 250.

 

¹⁶ CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks of the CFA Institute. Investments & Wealth Institute (IWI) is the owner of the certification marks CIMA® and Certified Investment Management Analyst®. Use of CIMA® and Certified Investment Management Analyst® signifies that the user has successfully completed IWI’s initial and ongoing credentialing requirements for investment management consultants.