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Merrill Managed Exceeds $10 Billion in Assets Under Management
Key points
- Personal Retirement Strategy (PRS) surpasses $100 billion in total assets, underscoring strong participant adoption and significant growth since its 2021 launch.
- Merrill Managed, the discretionary managed account solution, exceeds $10 billion in assets under management, reflecting rising demand for personalized retirement guidance paired with professional portfolio management from Bank of America's Chief Investment Office.
- BofA helps employers enhance employee financial wellness and retirement readiness through tailored investment strategies, retirement income planning and intuitive digital experiences.
Bank of America today announced its Personal Retirement Strategy (PRS) program has surpassed $100 billion in total assets, including more than $10 billion in assets under management by Merrill Managed.
Designed for employees participating in institutional 401(k) plans, PRS helps individuals build personalized retirement income strategies through planning, guidance and professional investment management, integrated into their workplace retirement experience. The program has become a leading digital retirement solution, helping participants make more confident decisions about their financial futures.
"Reaching these milestones reflects the growing value employees place on personalized retirement guidance and the trust employers place in innovative workplace benefits that support their employees' financial wellness," said John Quinn, Managing Director of Workplace Benefits at Bank of America. "Retirement planning is complex. We remain committed to helping individuals make informed decisions and stay on track to pursue their long-term goals."
PRS continues to evolve through ongoing investments in new features, enhanced personalization and innovative retirement income solutions designed to meet participants' changing needs. PRS is part of Bank of America Workplace Benefits®, a comprehensive suite of solutions that supports employees' short- and long-term financial goals.
According to the Bank of America 2026 Workplace Benefits Report, 70% of respondents identified saving for retirement as their primary financial goal. PRS can help to address this need by delivering personalized, goal-based strategies tailored to each participant's financial situation, retirement objectives and investment preferences. Through a seamless, user-friendly experience, participants can model different scenarios, understand potential retirement outcomes and access actionable guidance designed to improve retirement readiness.
"Surpassing $10 billion in managed account assets in just five years demonstrates the growing demand for solutions that combine personalized advice with professional investment management," said Stacy Bucchere, Managing Director of Workplace Benefits at Bank of America. "Employees increasingly want guidance that helps turn retirement assets into meaningful outcomes, and PRS is designed to support them throughout every stage of their retirement journey."
Participants can choose to manage investments on their own, implement PRS asset allocation recommendations or enroll in Merrill Managed, a discretionary managed account service that provides personalized portfolio management for an additional fee. Merrill Managed continuously monitors and rebalances portfolios to help participants stay aligned with their goals by utilizing Merrill's planning and portfolio expertise from the Chief Investment Office.
"Retirement investors face an increasingly complex market environment, making it more important than ever to stay focused on long-term goals rather than short-term market movements," said Chris Hyzy, Chief Investment Officer for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank. "Balancing the dynamic macroeconomic environment with a long-term view can help individuals navigate uncertainty and make progress toward their retirement objectives over time."
To further support participants beyond the savings phase, last year Bank of America introduced 401k Pay, a retirement income solution within PRS. 401k Pay helps participants convert retirement savings into sustainable income by recommending withdrawal amounts, projecting how long those withdrawals may last, enabling scenario modeling, and facilitating recurring payments through a simple three-step process. Participants can choose either professionally managed or self-directed investment approaches, providing flexibility as their retirement needs evolve.
Frequently asked questions
Question: Who is eligible to access Personal Retirement Strategy (PRS)?
Answer: Employees enrolled in a 401(k) plan on our proprietary recordkeeping platform that offers PRS through Bank of America Workplace Benefits is eligible to utilize.
Question: What are the potential benefits of PRS?
Answer: PRS helps make retirement planning clear and approachable. The program delivers personalized, goal-based strategies tailored to each participant's financial situation, investment preferences, and retirement objectives.
Question: How does PRS compare to other retirement guidance solutions?
Answer: PRS is a digital retirement investment advisory program combining interactive planning tools, professional investment management and retirement income solutions within a single workplace retirement experience.
Question: What Workplace Benefits solutions and services do Bank of America and Merrill offer clients?
Answer: Through retirement and benefit plans1, health benefit accounts2, employee banking solutions2, stock plan services1 and more, seamlessly integrated across its full set of financial capabilities, employees have a more holistic view of their financial lives, so they get the benefits most relevant to what they need today and aligned to their goals for tomorrow.
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 69 million clients with approximately 3,500 retail financial centers, approximately 15,000 ATMs (automated teller machines) and award-winning digital banking with approximately 60 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. As the #1 small business lender in the United States (FDIC), Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries and/or jurisdictions. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts.
Reporters may contact
Anu Ahluwalia, Bank of America
Phone: 1.646.855.3375
anu.ahluwalia@bofa.com
Footnotes
1 Investment products are available from Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated.
2 Bank products are available from Bank of America, N.A., and affiliated banks.
Important Disclosures
Bank of America, Merrill, their affiliates and advisors do not provide legal, tax or accounting advice. Clients should consult their legal and/or tax advisors before making financial decisions.
Personal Retirement Strategy is an online investment advisory program sponsored by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated ("MLPF&S" or "Merrill") that uses a probabilistic approach to determine the likelihood that participants in the program will accumulate sufficient total assets to achieve their annual retirement income goal. The recommendations provided by Personal Retirement Strategy may include a higher level of investment risk than a participant may be personally comfortable with. Participants are strongly advised to consider their personal goals, overall risk tolerance and retirement horizon before accepting any recommendations made by Personal Retirement Strategy. Participants should carefully review the explanation of the methodology used, including key assumptions and limitations, as well as a description of services and related fees, which is provided in the Personal Retirement Strategy Brochure (ADV Part 2A). It can be obtained through Benefits OnLine® or through the Retirement Benefits Contact Center.
Merrill offers a broad range of brokerage, investment advisory and other services. There are important differences between brokerage and investment advisory services, including the type of advice and assistance provided, the fees charged, and the rights and obligations of the parties. It is important to understand the differences, particularly when determining which service or services to select.
401k Pay is a feature of PRS that uses a probabilistic approach to determine the likelihood participants can achieve a retirement income amount.
The withdrawal amount suggested by 401k Pay is only for your 401(k) account balance and is not guaranteed. It does not include any outside assets you may have added to Retirement Settings.
IMPORTANT: The projections or other information shown in the Personal Retirement Strategy program regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future results. Results may vary with each use and over time.
The Chief Investment office ("CIO") provides thought leadership on wealth management, investment strategy and global markets, portfolio management solutions, due diligence, and solutions oversight and data analytics. CIO viewpoints are developed for Bank of America Private Bank, a division of Bank of America, N.A., ('Bank of America") and MLPF&S, a registered broker-dealer, registered investment adviser and wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp.
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SOURCE Bank of America Corporation
