Top Wealth · rank 52 · Chicago, Illinois · listed firm: Merrill Wealth Management
Identity & firm
- Firm — Merrill Wealth Management (high)
- “The Fries Wealth Management Group Merrill Lynch Wealth Management 110 N Wacker Dr” — firm_official
- “"firmName": "MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED"” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Parent company — Bank of America (high)
- “Banking products are provided by Bank of America, N.A. and affiliated banks, Members FDIC and wholly owned subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation.” — firm_official
- Firm type — wirehouse (high)
- “"firmName": "MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED", "iaOnly": "N", "registrationBeginDate": "10/23/2009", "firmBCScope": "ACTIVE", "firmIAScope": "ACTIVE", "iaSECNumber": "14235"” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Team name — The Fries Wealth Management Group (high)
- “The Fries Wealth Management Group works to offer our clients, who are individuals and businesses, world class investment products and strategies to help meet their personal and financial goals through performance with th” — firm_official
- Team size — 18 (medium)
- “Daniel Fries CFP®, CPFA®, CRPC™ Managing Director Wealth Management Advisor 312.696.2121” — firm_official
- CRD — 4052528 (high)
- “"basicInformation": {"individualId": 4052528, "firstName": "Daniel", "middleName": "A", "lastName": "Fries", "otherNames": ["DANIEL AUSTIN FRIES"], "bcScope": "Active", "iaScope": "Active", "daysInIndustryCalculatedDate"” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Years experience — 26 (high)
- “"daysInIndustryCalculatedDate": "1/4/2000"” — sec_finra_regulatory
- “His 20-plus year career at Merrill reflects his dedication and achievements.” — firm_official
- Designations — CFP, other:CPFA, other:CRPC (high)
- “"c_designationsWithSuperscript":"CFP®, CPFA®, CRPC™"” — firm_official
- “He holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certification from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™ designation through the College for Fina” — firm_official
Book of business
- Team AUM ($M) — 2200 (high)
- “Team Assets (Custodied): $2.2B” — forbes_shook
- Account minimum ($M) — 1 (high)
- “Minimum Account Size for New Business: $1M” — forbes_shook
- Typical client net worth ($M) — 17.5 (high)
- “Typical Net Worth of Relationships: $5-30M” — forbes_shook
- Client niche — family-office-style service for individuals and business owners; sports & entertainment and multigenerational legacy planning (high)
- “Ever since he formed his group, Dan’s goal has been to offer the acumen and attention of a family office.” — firm_official
- “"c_clientFocuses":["PHILANTHROPHY_&_CHARITABLE_GIVING","INVESTING_ADVICE","FAMILY_WEALTH_MANAGEMENT_STRATEGIES","LEGACY_PLANNING","LIQUIDITY_MANAGEMENT","PERSONAL_RETIREMENT_PLANNING","PORTFOLIO_MANAGEMENT_SERVICES","SPO” — firm_official
- Custodians — gap: not_applicable
- Fee model — fee_plus_commission (medium)
- “"firmName": "MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED", "iaOnly": "N", "firmBCScope": "ACTIVE", "firmIAScope": "ACTIVE"” — sec_finra_regulatory
Positioning & marketing
- Website url — https://advisor.ml.com/sites/il/chic-loop-il/frieswealthmanagement (high)
- “The Fries Wealth Management Group - Financial Advisors in Chicago, IL 60606 | Merrill” — firm_official
- Value proposition (verbatim) — The Fries Wealth Management Group works to offer our clients, who are individuals and businesses, world class investment products and strategies to help meet their personal and financial goals through performance with the least amount of risk while being tax efficient to provide them with an income stream during retirement or to pass to future generations. (high)
- “The Fries Wealth Management Group works to offer our clients, who are individuals and businesses, world class investment products and strategies to help meet their personal and financial goals through performance with th” — firm_official
- Differentiators — family-office level acumen and attention, team stability and continuity with a deep bench, risk-minimized, tax-efficient investment strategies, no single approach — strategy built around each client's priorities, access to Merrill investment insights plus Bank of America credit and lending (high)
- “Ever since he formed his group, Dan’s goal has been to offer the acumen and attention of a family office. Supported by the insights and perspectives of specialists, he and his team are comprehensive in focus and consulta” — firm_official
- ““I strongly believe clients appreciate our team’s stability and continuity,” Dan says. “I’ve had the good fortunate to hire smart, hardworking people and watch them grow.” — firm_official
- Content marketing — occasional (medium)
- “Insights Beyond the page: How a successful writer pursues financial security Four for the Quarter: Top questions investors are asking right now Stay ahead of student scams Inside the American wallet Emerging Trends in Cy” — firm_official
- Has podcast — no (medium)
- “Insights Beyond the page: How a successful writer pursues financial security Four for the Quarter: Top questions investors are asking right now Stay ahead of student scams Inside the American wallet Emerging Trends in Cy” — firm_official
- Books published — 0 (medium)
- “Dan earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Elmhurst College as a full-time student who worked full-time in banking.” — firm_official
- Linkedin url — https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-fries-48082011 (medium)
- “Daniel Fries - Wealth Management Advisor” — social_or_third_party_db
- Social presence — linkedin_active (low)
- “Daniel Fries - Wealth Management Advisor” — social_or_third_party_db
- Press awards — Barron's "Top 1,500 Financial Advisors" 2014, 2016-2026, Barron's "Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams" 2025 (high)
- “• Barron’s “Top 1,500 Financial Advisors” in 2014, 2016- 2026.” — firm_official
- “Barron’s “Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams”, 2025 (Published on May 9, 2025. Rankings based on data as of December 31, 2024.)” — firm_official
Visual brand
- Has distinct logo — no (high)
- “<img style="object-fit:contain;object-position:center;max-width:1550px;width:100%;aspect-ratio:1550 / 930" src="https://dyn.mktgcdn.com/p/4el62XyzfgLmvmbe2y0SNROvtujldypCKwPYraqWvls/width=500,height=500" class="max-h-[45” — firm_official
- Logo url — gap: not_found_after_search
- Visual brand notes — Merrill corporate template, no team mark. Blue hero color scheme, clean sans-serif, large full-width team group photo plus editorial stock imagery (author portrait, students, CIO headshots). (high)
- “"c_heroColorScheme":"BLUE"” — firm_official
- “loading="lazy" alt="students talking in a school hallway"” — firm_official