Best-in-State · rank 43 · Phoenix, Arizona · listed firm: Merrill Wealth Management
Identity & firm
- Firm — Merrill Wealth Management (high)
- “I am Senior Resident Director of the Phoenix office and am a Managing Director with the firm.” — firm_official
- Parent company — Bank of America (high)
- “delivered through advisors and wealth management client associates and access to the global investment capabilities of Merrill and the banking convenience of Bank of America” — firm_official
- Firm type — wirehouse (high)
- “DAVID WILLIAM DORWARD - Broker at MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INC” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Team name — The Dorward Team (high)
- “The Dorward Team - Financial Advisors in Phoenix, AZ 85016 | Merrill” — firm_official
- Team size — gap: not_found_after_search
- CRD — 2654418 (high)
- “DAVID WILLIAM DORWARD - Broker at MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INC” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Years experience — 31 (high)
- “I began my career in the financial services industry in 1995 and joined Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in 1997.” — firm_official
- Designations — CPFA, CRPC (high)
- “David holds professional designations including Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™ (CRPC™) and Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor® (CPFA®).” — firm_official
Book of business
- Team AUM ($M) — 984 (high)
- “Team Assets (Custodied): $984M” — forbes_shook
- Account minimum ($M) — 1.5 (high)
- “Minimum account size for new business: $1.5M” — forbes_shook
- Typical client net worth ($M) — 12.5 (high)
- “Typical Net Worth of Relationships: $1.5-25M” — forbes_shook
- Client niche — corporate executives, professional athletes, physicians, retirees & business owners (high)
- “My area of focus is working with the ultra-high net worth, more specifically corporate executives, professional athletes, physicians, retirees & business owners.” — firm_official
- Custodians — not_applicable (high)
- Fee model — gap: not_public
Positioning & marketing
- Website url — https://advisor.ml.com/sites/az/phoenix-az/the-dorward-team/david_dorward (high)
- “David Dorward - Financial Advisor in Phoenix, AZ 85016 | Merrill” — firm_official
- Value proposition (verbatim) — Our mission, first and foremost, is to understand you and what matters most to you. Armed with that information I can ask thoughtful questions -- listening carefully, then understanding in detail where your wealth stands today and where you'd like it to be tomorrow. (high)
- “Our mission, first and foremost, is to understand you and what matters most to you. Armed with that information I can ask thoughtful questions -- listening carefully, then understanding in detail where your wealth stands” — firm_official
- Differentiators — Teamwork and involvement delivered by advisors and wealth management associates, Access to Merrill's global investment capabilities, Bank of America's banking convenience, Personalized financial planning for ultra-high net worth clients, Discretionary portfolio management with individual securities and model portfolios (medium)
- “good relationships are built through teamwork and involvement, delivered through advisors and wealth management client associates with access to Merrill's global investment capabilities and Bank of America's banking conv” — firm_official
- Content marketing — gap: not_found_after_search
- Has podcast — gap: not_found_after_search
- Books published — gap: not_found_after_search
- Linkedin url — https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-dorward-cpfa%C2%AE-crpc%E2%84%A2-800863 (high)
- “David Dorward, CPFA®, CRPC™ - Phoenix, Arizona” — social_or_third_party_db
- Social presence — linkedin_active (medium)
- “LinkedIn profile verified with 477 connections” — social_or_third_party_db
- Press awards — Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisor 2019-2026, Chair-Elect, Fiesta Sports Foundation 2026 (high)
- “recognized as a Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisor from 2019-2026” — forbes_shook
- “David Dorward Chair-Elect and Adds Two New Board Members” — professional_press
Visual brand
- Has distinct logo — no (high)
- “The Dorward Team uses Merrill's corporate branding and logo” — firm_official
- Logo url — gap: not_found_after_search
- Visual brand notes — Team uses parent firm Merrill's corporate branding with navy blue professional palette reflecting Bank of America integration (medium)
- “Merrill logo represents Bank of America's 2019 rebrand that simplified the historic Merrill Lynch identity, presenting a minimalist geometric mark paired with a clean wordmark. The navy color (#012169) is deeply saturate” — professional_press