We offer various investment advisory programs (IA Programs). Each IA Program is described in its IA Program brochure covering the fiduciary services provided, program fees charged and conflicts of interest.

When you enroll in one of our IA Programs, we act as your investment adviser in providing you the fiduciary services described in that IA Program's client agreement and brochure. These services include advice and guidance, access to investment strategies and certain brokerage and custody services, among others. We provide ongoing monitoring for an account enrolled in an IA Program as described in its brochure. You pay an asset-based fee and not on a per trade basis.

MAA provides discretionary services in certain IA Programs. It invests assets by implementing investment strategies of Merrill and/or third-party managers you and your Advisor select for your IA Program account. It also processes contributions and withdrawals and provides other services.

In certain IA Programs, you can choose to make investment decisions yourself and/or to grant us or a manager discretion or authority to make investment and trading decisions for your account on your behalf. Discretion is triggered when you grant it and remains in effect until you revoke it.

The range of investment solutions that you can access depends on the IA Program you select and whether you are working with your dedicated Advisor or MFSA, working with our FSAs, or working on a self-guided basis. Our IA Programs for retail investors are:

Merrill Lynch Investment Advisory Program (IAP). You receive investment advice and guidance from your Advisor or your MFSA, as the case may be. Advisors can offer you all available Merrill-managed and third-party managed investment strategies, including those that involve you entering into a separate contract with the manager. They can also work with you to invest in individual securities, including equities, debt and fund securities, with investment discretion or where you retain investment discretion. MFSAs offer you access to a defined list of managed strategies.
Strategic Portfolio Advisor Service (SPA). In SPA, you have access to investment advice from your Advisor and to certain investment strategies offered by third-party managers by means of a separate contract between you and the SPA manager.
Managed Account Service (MAS). In MAS, you can access certain investment strategies of third-party managers not offered in our other IA Programs by means of a separate contract with the MAS manager. We do not provide advice or recommendations about your selection.
Merrill Guided Investing with Advisor (MGI with Advisor). In MGI with Advisor, you can invest in a limited list of investment strategies managed by Merrill that you select with the advice and guidance of FSAs through an online, interactive website.
Merrill Edge Advisory Account (MEAA). Through MEAA, a legacy program that is very similar to MGI with Advisor, you receive advice and guidance from FSAs but do not use the online interactive website.
Merrill Guided Investing (MGI). Through MGI, you can access a set of Merrill-managed investment strategies through an online, interactive website on a self-guided basis.
Institutional Investment Consulting (IIC). This program provides specified investment portfolio services to the investment portfolios of IIC-eligible clients.

All of these IA Programs have differing service and relationship approaches and requirements. Certain of the same managed investment strategies are available in several of our IA Programs.

You should evaluate which IA Program is right for you considering your investment profile; the IA Program fee you are willing to pay; your preferences on how you want your investment relationship to work (with the dedicated Advisor or MFSA you select, with FSAs, or on a self-guided basis); the scope of their capabilities and the limitations on the services they provide; the nature of the IA Program services and the types of IA Program services you want; and the investment solutions and strategies available in each IA Program

When we make a recommendation to you about the type of account or program to select, we are acting as both a broker dealer and an investment adviser. We make available a wide variety of investment products and investment solutions based on factors such as account limitations, eligibility and our product approval process. MFSAs and FSAs are not eligible to offer all brokerage or investment advisory products and services.

There are material limitations we impose in connection with the products we make available to clients, as further described in the Best Interest Disclosure Statement. We require for certain products that the product provider or sponsor enter into distribution agreements with us and, in certain cases, make payments to us for revenue sharing, sub-accounting services and for compensation purposes. In addition, there are a limited number of products in which we or our affiliates have an interest.

Merrill utilizes its own broker-dealer capabilities and those of Bank of America Securities, Inc. (BofAS) and other related entities to provide you with certain investment products and services, including trade execution, access to research and cash management services.

For a CMA Account, there is a minimum funding of $20,000 in cash and/or securities (with a $2,000 minimum for a subaccount). This does not apply to an account enrolled in MGI, MGI with Advisor, MEAA or to an MESD account. Certain investment products and IA Programs are subject to minimum investment amounts detailed in offering materials and IA Program brochures.

Not all account type options provide the same services.

Charles P. Utz

MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH

Wealth Management Advisor

Davidson, NC

Charles P Utz