Footnote
Institutional Investor magazine announced BofA Global Research as the Top Global Research Firm in 2019 based on surveys held throughout the year. The magazine creates rankings of the top research analysts in a wide variety of specializations, drawn from the choices of portfolio managers and other investment professionals at more than 1,000 firms. 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 popup, and wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation. For more information about this award, go to
Institutional Investor popup. Rankings and recognition from Institutional Investor 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.
Footnote
Merrill waives its commissions for all online stock, ETF and option trades placed in a Merrill Edge® Self-Directed brokerage account. Brokerage fees associated with, but not limited to, margin transactions, special stock registration/gifting, account transfer and processing and termination apply. $0 option trades are subject to a $0.65 per-contract fee. Other fees and restrictions may apply. Pricing is subject to change without advance notice.
Equity securities sold through Merrill Edge self-directed investing are subject to stock market fluctuations that occur in response to economic and business developments.
Footnote 3 Mutual Funds: While no-load funds do not assess sales charges, fund shares are subject to management fees and certain other expenses. Redemption fees may also apply. Merrill Lynch receives remuneration from participating fund companies. In addition to receiving dealer concessions and asset-based sales charges and/or services fees in connection with clients' purchasing and holding mutual fund shares, Merrill Lynch and its affiliates provide other services for which they may receive additional compensation from funds or their affiliates. This compensation is generally disclosed in a fund's prospectus which is available from an
Investment Center representative and in the
Guide to Mutual Fund Investing (PDF). For specific mutual fund family compensation information, please contact the Investment Center.
Fund shares may be redeemed directly with the Fund without payment of the Merrill Lynch Short-Term Redemption fee. Additional transfer fees may apply.
Many Load Funds offer various sales charge discounts or waivers depending on the terms of the prospectus and/or statement of additional information. You should consult a fund's prospectus and/or statement of additional information to determine whether you may qualify for a discount or waiver. Notify an Investment Center representative if you believe you qualify for any of these discounts or waivers. Call the Investment Center at 877.653.4732 for assistance.
Mutual fund share prices fluctuate in accordance with market and economic conditions and it's possible to lose money by investing in mutual funds.
Footnote 4 Fixed Income: Fixed income orders contain order information on Agency Discounts/Notes/Bonds, Certificates of Deposit, Corporate Bonds, Municipal Bonds and Treasury Bond investment vehicles.
Exchange Traded Funds are subject to risks similar to those of stocks. Investment returns may fluctuate and are subject to market volatility, so that an investor's shares, when redeemed or sold, may be worth more or less than their original cost.
A Brokered Certificate of Deposit is different than a bank Certificate of Deposit. It is sold for a bank by a broker while a Certificate of Deposit can be purchased directly from a bank. Brokered CDs may offer higher rates of return, but their value may fluctuate with changing interest rates. Banking products are provided by Bank of America, N.A. and affiliated banks. Members FDIC and wholly owned subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation.
Footnote
When you purchase securities, you may pay for the securities in full, or if your account has been established as a margin account with the margin lending program, you may borrow part of the purchase price from Merrill Lynch. If you choose to borrow funds for your purchase, Merrill Lynch's collateral for the loan will be the securities purchased, other assets in your margin account, and your assets in any other accounts at Merrill Lynch. If the securities in your margin account decline in value, so does the value of the collateral supporting your loan, and, as a result, we can take action, such as to issue a margin call and/or sell securities in any of your accounts held with us, in order to maintain the required equity in your account. If your account has a Visa
® card and/or checks, you may also create a margin debit if your withdrawals (by Visa card, checks, preauthorized debits, FTS or other transfers) exceed the sum of any available free credit balances plus available money account balances (such as bank deposit balances or money market funds). Please refer to your account documents for more information.
Before opening a margin account, you should carefully review the terms governing margin loans. For Individual Investor Accounts, these terms are contained in the Margin Lending Program Client Agreement. For all other accounts, the terms are in your account agreement and disclosures. It is important that you fully understand the risks involved in using margin. These risks including the following:
- You can lose more funds than you deposit in the margin account. A decline in the value of securities that are purchased on margin may require you to provide additional funds to us to avoid the forced sale of those securities or other securities in your account(s).
- We can force the sale of securities in your account(s). If the equity in your account falls below the maintenance margin requirements or Merrill Lynch's higher "house" requirements, we can sell the securities in any of your accounts held by us to cover the margin deficiency. You also will be responsible for any shortfall in the account after such as sale.
- We can sell your securities without contacting you. Some investors mistakenly believe that they must be contacted for a margin call to be valid, and that securities in their accounts cannot be liquidated to meet the call unless they are contacted first. This is not the case. We will attempt to notify you of margin calls, but we are not required to do so. Even if we have contacted you and provided a specific date by which you can meet a margin call, we can still take necessary steps to protect our financial interests, including immediately selling the securities without notice to you.
- You are not entitled to choose which securities in your account(s) are liquidated or sold to meet a margin call. Because the securities are collateral for the margin loan, we have the right to decide which security to sell in order to protect our interests.
- We can increase our "house" maintenance margin requirements at any time and are not required to provide you advance written notice. These changes in our policy may take effect immediately and may result in the issuance of a maintenance margin call. Your failure to satisfy the call may cause us to liquidate or sell securities in your account(s).
- You are not entitled to an extension of time on a margin call. While an extension of time to meet margin requirements may be available to you under certain conditions, you do not have a right to the extension.
If you have any questions or concerns about margin and the margin lending program, please contact your Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor or the Merrill Edge Advisory Center.™
Footnote 6 The NextGen Plan is a Section 529 plan administered by the Finance Authority of Maine. Before you invest in the NextGen plan, request a NextGen College Investing Plan Program Description from us and read it carefully. The Program Description contains more complete information, including investment objectives, charges, expenses and risks of investing in the NextGen plan, which you should carefully consider before investing. You also should consider whether your home state or your designated beneficiary's home state offers any state tax or other benefits that are only available for investments in such state's 529 plan. Section 529 plans are not guaranteed by any state or federal agency. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated is the program manager, underwriter and distributor.
Footnote 7 The fee is not charged when transferring to another internal account.
Footnote 8 DRS Eligible refers to securities held electronically at transfer agent (Direct Registration System). Non-DRS Eligible security fee is equal to amount charged to Merrill Edge by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation.
Footnote
Merrill Edge Self-Directed received 3.5 out of 5 stars overall in Investopedia's Annual Review, March 17, 2020. Investopedia rates online brokers based on 12 key categories and 103 variables. Rankings for subcategories may vary. Learn more at Investopedia. Reprinted with permission of Investopedia. Rankings and recognition from Investopedia 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.
Footnote
Merrill Edge Self-Directed was evaluated as one of 11 online brokers in StockBrokers.com 2021 Online Broker Review published on January 19, 2021. StockBrokers.com evaluated brokers using 256 variables across 7 categories. The Best In Class rating recognizes brokers that ranked in the top 5 in that category. Learn more at
StockBrokers.com popup. Rankings and recognition from StockBrokers.com 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.
Footnote
Merrill Edge Self-Directed was ranked 4 out of 11 online brokers by Kiplinger's Personal Finance's "Best Online Brokers," survey August 2020. To be included, firms had to offer online trading of stocks, ETFs, funds and individual bonds. Results based on ratings in the following categories: commissions and fees, investment choices, mobile app, tools, research, advisory services and user experience. Rankings for subcategories may vary.
Learn more at Kiplinger's Personal Finance popup, August 2020 © 2020 The Kiplinger Washington Editors. Used under License. Merrill provides access to research from BofA Global Research, CFRA (powered by S&P Global), Morningstar and others. Rankings and recognition from Kiplinger's 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.
Footnote 12 The Chief Investment Office (CIO) develops the investment strategies for Merrill Guided Investing and Merrill Guided Investing with Advisor, including providing its recommendations of ETFs, mutual funds and related asset allocations. Managed Account Advisors LLC (MAA), Merrill Lynch's affiliate, is the overlay portfolio manager responsible for implementing the Merrill Guided Investing strategies for client accounts, including facilitating the purchase & sale of ETFs in client accounts and updating account asset allocations when the CIO's recommendations change while also implementing any applicable individual client or firm restriction(s).
Footnote 13 Clients enrolled in Preferred Rewards receive a discount off the Merrill Guided Investing program's annual asset-based fee of 0.45%, and the Merrill Guided Investing with an Advisor and Merrill Edge Advisory Account programs' annual asset-based fee of 0.85% for any of their accounts enrolled in the respective advisory programs. Preferred Rewards-enrolled clients receive a discount of 0.05% off of the annual rate for the Gold tier, 0.10% for the Platinum tier, or 0.15% for the Platinum Honors tier based on their Preferred Rewards tier effective at the time the applicable advisory program fee is calculated. Bank of America Private Bank clients will also receive a discount of 0.15% off of the annual rate. It may take up to 30 calendar days for changes to your Preferred Rewards status or tier to be associated with and effective for your accounts in the advisory programs. This fee is charged monthly in advance. In addition to the annual program fee, the expenses of the investments will vary based on the specific funds within each portfolio. Actual fund expenses will vary; please refer to each fund's prospectus. Sales of ETFs are subject to a transaction fee of between $0.01 and $0.03 per $1,000 of principal. There are costs associated with owning ETFs and mutual funds. To learn more about pricing, visit
our Pricing page.
Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management clients, other than Bank of America Private Bank clients, do not receive the Merrill Guided Investing fee discount.
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