Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated

• A percentage of assets under your management
• Fixed fees (other than subscription fees)
• Commissions

Item 5.E lists how the firm is compensated for its advice; Items 5.B, 6.A, and 7.A show whether its people or related companies can also earn commissions. Percentage of assets, fixed, hourly, subscription, and performance-based fees come from clients (a performance-based fee depends on investment results); commissions come with a sale or a trade, often from the company behind the product. How fees, commissions, and other arrangements differ

See the firm's brochure (dated August 3, 2026) for its fees and any account minimum, on the SEC's IAPD site.

$1,781,568,171,479 as of October 2026, filing dated September 24, 2026.

A measure of scale, not skill or returns. Discretionary means the firm decides trades; non-discretionary means clients approve each one. What assets under management means

A firm with no individual clients is an institutional manager even if it manages billions; the mix tells you whom the practice is built around.

• Portfolio management for individuals and/or small businesses
• Portfolio management for businesses (other than small businesses) or institutional clients
• Pension consulting services
• Selection of other advisers (including private fund managers)
• Educational seminars/workshops
• Other

Registration

SEC-registered investment adviser. Status as filed: Approved.

Registered since

1978 (47 years)

Employees

Total: 32,960. Performing investment advisory functions: 25,721.

Wrap fee program participation

Yes.

Custodians (Schedule D, Section 5.K(3))

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated · affiliated

Custodians holding 10% or more of the firm's separately managed account assets, as filed on Form ADV (Schedule D, Section 5.K(3)). A custodian holds client assets; it does not endorse or supervise the firm. AdvisorCensus has no relationship with any custodian.

Other offices (Schedule D, Section 1.F)

24 other offices, as of the October 2026 filing

Atlanta, GABellevue, WABloomfield Hills, MIBoston, MAChandler, AZCharlotte, NCChicago, ILFlorham Park, NJFrisco, TXHouston, TXHunt Valley, MDJacksonville, FLLos Angeles, CAMelville, NYMiami, FLNew York, NYNewport Beach, CAParamus, NJPasadena, CAPennington, NJSan Francisco, CASeattle, WAWashington, DCWellesley Hills, MA

States registered or notice-filed

49 states or jurisdictions

AKALARCACOCTDCDEFLGAHIIAIDILINKSKYLAMDMEMIMNMOMSMTNCNDNENHNJNMNVNYOHOKPARISCSDTNTXUTVAVIVTWAWIWVWY

SEC-registered investment advisers are examined by the SEC. SEC, state, and exempt registration

20 Reports 20 disclosure items on Form ADV Item 11. View on IAPD.

Questions answered yes on this filing

Criminal matters Items 11.A and 11.B

• 11.A(1) In the past ten years, has the firm or an advisory affiliate been convicted of, or pleaded guilty or no contest to, a felony?
• 11.A(2) In the past ten years, has the firm or an advisory affiliate been charged with a felony?
• 11.B(1) In the past ten years, has the firm or an advisory affiliate been convicted of, or pleaded guilty or no contest to, a misdemeanor involving investments or an investment-related business, fraud, false statements or omissions, wrongful taking of property, bribery, perjury, forgery, counterfeiting, extortion, or a conspiracy to commit any of these?
• 11.B(2) In the past ten years, has the firm or an advisory affiliate been charged with one of the misdemeanors listed in 11.B(1)?

Regulatory matters Items 11.C to 11.G

• 11.C(1) Has the SEC or the CFTC ever found that the firm or an advisory affiliate made a false statement or omission?
• 11.C(2) Has the SEC or the CFTC ever found that the firm or an advisory affiliate was involved in a violation of SEC or CFTC regulations or statutes?
• 11.C(4) Has the SEC or the CFTC ever entered an order against the firm or an advisory affiliate in connection with investment-related activity?
• 11.C(5) Has the SEC or the CFTC ever imposed a civil money penalty on the firm or an advisory affiliate, or ordered the firm or an advisory affiliate to cease and desist from an activity?
• 11.D(1) Has another federal regulator, a state regulator, or a foreign financial regulator ever found that the firm or an advisory affiliate made a false statement or omission, or was dishonest, unfair, or unethical?
• 11.D(2) Has another federal regulator, a state regulator, or a foreign financial regulator ever found that the firm or an advisory affiliate was involved in a violation of investment-related regulations or statutes?
• 11.D(3) Has another federal regulator, a state regulator, or a foreign financial regulator ever found that the firm or an advisory affiliate was a cause of an investment-related business having its authorization to do business denied, suspended, revoked, or restricted?
• 11.D(4) In the past ten years, has another federal regulator, a state regulator, or a foreign financial regulator entered an order against the firm or an advisory affiliate in connection with investment-related activity?
• 11.D(5) Has another federal regulator, a state regulator, or a foreign financial regulator ever denied, suspended, or revoked the registration or license of the firm or an advisory affiliate, prevented either by order from associating with an investment-related business, or restricted either one's activity?
• 11.E(2) Has a self-regulatory organization or a commodities exchange ever found that the firm or an advisory affiliate was involved in a violation of its rules, other than a minor rule violation under a plan the SEC approved?
• 11.E(4) Has a self-regulatory organization or a commodities exchange ever disciplined the firm or an advisory affiliate by expelling or suspending it from membership, barring or suspending it from association with other members, or otherwise restricting its activities?
• 11.F Has an authorization to act as an attorney, accountant, or federal contractor granted to the firm or an advisory affiliate ever been revoked or suspended?
• 11.G Is the firm or an advisory affiliate now the subject of a regulatory proceeding that could result in a yes answer to any part of 11.C, 11.D, or 11.E?

Civil court matters Item 11.H

• 11.H(1)(a) In the past ten years, has a domestic or foreign court issued an injunction against the firm or an advisory affiliate in connection with investment-related activity?
• 11.H(1)(b) Has a domestic or foreign court ever found that the firm or an advisory affiliate was involved in a violation of investment-related statutes or regulations?
• 11.H(2) Is the firm or an advisory affiliate now the subject of a civil proceeding that could result in a yes answer to any part of 11.H(1)?

Each question covers the firm and its advisory affiliates: its current employees other than clerical staff, its officers, partners, and directors, and anyone who controls the firm or is controlled by it. One event can produce yes answers to several questions. SEC-registered advisers and exempt reporting advisers may leave out events more than ten years old, and may answer 11.A(2) and 11.B(2) for pending charges only. What happened, and who was involved, is on the Disclosure Reporting Pages of the IAPD record. Reading a firm's disclosures

Regulatory assets under management: $1,084,543,561,669 in the October 2021 data and $1,781,568,171,479 in the October 2026 data, up 64%.

Total employees: 36,025 in October 2021 and 32,960 in October 2026.

As filed in each year's data for the same month. Assets under management move with markets as well as with clients coming and going; they measure scale, not skill or returns. Most firms update these figures once a year.

1. September 2026
   • Updated its list of owners and control persons (Schedule A).
2. August 2026
   • Updated its list of owners and control persons (Schedule A).
3. June 2026
   • Updated its list of owners and control persons (Schedule A).
4. April 2026
   • Employees performing advisory functions went from 25753 to 25721.
   • Regulatory assets under management went from $1,511,090,925,436 to $1,781,568,171,479 (+18%).
   • Changed its office addresses in Jacksonville, FL.
   • Added an office in Florham Park, NJ.
   • Added an office in Seattle, WA.
   • Added an office in Wellesley Hills, MA.
   • No longer lists an office in New York, NY.
   • No longer lists an office in Rolling Meadows, IL.

Compared month to month from the SEC's monthly adviser data and the state compilation feed. Owners and control persons are summarized, never named.