Last Updated: 04/18/2025
Merrill Guided Investing
Unaffiliated
in Investment Advisors from Bank of America
Last Updated: 04/18/2025
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Highlights
Minimum Initial Investment
$5,000
Management Fee
.30% - .85%
Merrill Guided Investing Review
Merrill Guided Investing is a bank founded in 1784 and based in Charlotte, NC.
Merrill Guided Investing Pros & Cons
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Merrill Guided Investing FAQ
What fees does Merrill Guided Investing charge?
Merrill Guided Investing uses a fee-only model.
This means Merrill Guided Investing gets paid a flat fee regardless of what financial products or services you use. It also means they have a fiduciary responsibility to their clients. Instead of making money on trades commissions or selling products, they recommend an asset allocation and get paid a flat-fee or a percentage of the assets under administration. That requires that they act in their client’s financial best interest at all times.
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What management fees does Merrill Guided Investing charge?
Merrill Guided Investing charges an annual management fee that starts at .30% and ranges up to .85%.
Many financial advisors charge based on how much money they oversee by using a fee-structure called “assets under management,” or AUM. For instance, a 0.40% fee translates to $4 per year for every $1,000 an investment advisor manages. Management fees, also known as maintenance fees, cover the operating costs of investment advisors and are typically deducted from your account every month or quarter. The management fee does not cover the underlying expense ratios of the investment vehicles purchased by investment advisors.
What are the investment expense ratios of Merrill Guided Investing?
Hiring an investment advisor with competitive investment fees is one of the most important steps to maximizing your portfolio's performance. Investment expense ratios can vary drastically depending on the types of accounts and assets involved. A survey by the ICI puts the average expense ratio for actively managed funds at 0.76% and indexed funds at 0.08%. The investment expense ratios of an investment advisor will vary depending on the type of assets they invest in and whether they attach additional charges to fund fees.
Merrill Guided Investing does not charge fees based on an investment expense ratio. What features does Merrill Guided Investing offer?
Access to human advisors: Robo-advisors are great at keeping costs down and helping investors with modest balances make good investment choices. However, it is also nice to have access to human financial advisors when you need them.
Automatic rebalancing: Having a good balance of investments is important. But a well-balanced portfolio is not something you can set up and forget. Markets are constantly changing and can easily throw your portfolio out of balance. Merrill Guided Investing allows you to rebalance your investments back to your target asset allocation at set intervals.
What type of investment accounts and asset classes does Merrill Guided Investing support?
Bank of America offers the following types of assets and account types.
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These are the investment options Bank of America offers its clients.
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What is the minimum amount you have to invest to open an account with Merrill Guided Investing?
The minimum amount to open an account with Merrill Guided Investing is $$5,000.SuperMoney Disclosure: SuperMoney.com is an independent, advertising-supported service. The owner of this website may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. Read more...
Editorial Disclaimer: Editorial and user-generated content on this page is not provided or commissioned by the issuer. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone and have not been approved or otherwise endorsed by any financial institution, including those that are advertising partners.