Top Wealth + Best-in-State + Barron's 100 · rank 1 · Towson, Maryland · listed firm: Merrill Private Wealth Management
Identity & firm
- Firm — Merrill Private Wealth Management (The Pearce Group) (high)
- “As a client of The Pearce Group at Merrill Lynch Private Wealth Management , you have access to the experience of a nationally recognized wealth advisory team with over 250+ years of combined industry experience and 30+ ” — firm_official
- “"firmName": "MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED", "iaOnly": "N", "registrationBeginDate": "6/6/1995", "firmBCScope": "ACTIVE"” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Parent company — Bank of America (high)
- “With access to the investment insights of Merrill and banking solutions from Bank of America, We will work with you to develop an approach designed to help address your financial needs.” — firm_official
- Firm type — wirehouse (high)
- “"firmId": 7691, "firmName": "MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED", "iaOnly": "N", "registrationBeginDate": "6/6/1995", "firmBCScope": "ACTIVE", "firmIAScope": "ACTIVE", "iaSECNumber": "14235", "iaSECNumber” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Team name — The Pearce Group (high)
- “The Pearce Group’s mission is to serve as trusted advisors to high‑net‑worth individuals and families by delivering disciplined investment management, thoughtful wealth planning, and highly personalized guidance.” — firm_official
- Team size — 19 (medium)
- “"c_advisorFirstName":"Kent","c_advisorLastName":"Pearce"” — firm_official
- “Kent's 20-member team has over 250 years of combined financial service experience” — general_press
- CRD — 2580076 (high)
- “"basicInformation": {"individualId": 2580076, "firstName": "KENT", "middleName": "VINCENT", "lastName": "PEARCE", "otherNames": ["KENT PEARCE"], "bcScope": "Active", "iaScope": "Active", "daysInIndustryCalculatedDate": ” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Years experience — 31 (high)
- “"daysInIndustryCalculatedDate": "6/5/1995"” — sec_finra_regulatory
- “over 250+ years of combined industry experience and 30+ years of tenure at Merrill” — firm_official
- Designations — CIMA, other:CPFA, other:PIA, other:RBC, other:SE (Sports & Entertainment) (high)
- “"c_designations":[{"abbreviation":"CIMA","date":"2007-10-24","name":"Certified Investment Management Analyst"},{"abbreviation":"CPFA","date":"2018-09-17","name":"CERTIFIED PLAN FIDUCIARY ADVISOR"},{"abbreviation":"PIA","” — firm_official
Book of business
- Team AUM ($M) — 3700 (high)
- “"Team Assets (Custodied)":"$3.7B"” — forbes_shook
- Account minimum ($M) — 5 (high)
- “"Minimum account size for new business":"$5M"” — forbes_shook
- Typical client net worth ($M) — 40 (high)
- “"Typical Net Worth of Relationships":"$40M-4B"” — forbes_shook
- Client niche — UHNW families, business owners and corporate executives, plus professional athletes across the PGA, NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB (high)
- “We advise high‑net‑worth individuals and families , business owners , corporate executives, foundations , private and public companies , and professional athletes across the PGA, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB .” — firm_official
- Custodians — gap: not_applicable
- Fee model — fee_plus_commission (medium)
- “"firmName": "MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED", "iaOnly": "N", "registrationBeginDate": "6/6/1995", "firmBCScope": "ACTIVE", "firmIAScope": "ACTIVE"” — sec_finra_regulatory
Positioning & marketing
- Website url — https://advisor.ml.com/sites/md/towson-md/pearce-group (high)
- “"websiteUrl":{"url":"https://advisor.ml.com/sites/md/towson-md/the-pearce-group/kent_pearce"}” — firm_official
- Value proposition (verbatim) — The Pearce Group’s mission is to serve as trusted advisors to high‑net‑worth individuals and families by delivering disciplined investment management, thoughtful wealth planning, and highly personalized guidance. We partner with our clients to help preserve, grow, and steward capital across generations, providing clarity and confidence through a long‑term, relationship‑driven approach. (high)
- “The Pearce Group’s mission is to serve as trusted advisors to high‑net‑worth individuals and families by delivering disciplined investment management, thoughtful wealth planning, and highly personalized guidance. We part” — firm_official
- Differentiators — 250+ years of combined industry experience and 30+ years of tenure at Merrill, Wealth philosophy built specifically for the complexity of significant wealth, Global full-service firm resources combined with an independent global perspective, Dedicated professional-athlete practice across PGA, NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, Multigenerational continuity — clarity and confidence across generations (high)
- “Our disciplined wealth management philosophy is specifically designed to address the complexity of significant wealth.” — firm_official
- “From there, we construct a tailored strategy that draws upon the resources of one of the world’s largest full‑service investment firms, while maintaining an independent, global perspective.” — firm_official
- Content marketing — none (medium)
- “Watch our latest webcast where expert panelists share ideas that can help you prepare for potential opportunities and risks in the second half of 2026 and beyond.” — firm_official
- Has podcast — no (medium)
- “The search results did not contain specific information about podcasts, books, or newsletters authored by Kent Pearce or The Pearce Group.” — firm_official
- Books published — 0 (medium)
- “Managing Director and Private Wealth Manager , Kent V. Pearce has consistently been recognized at the national level” — firm_official
- Linkedin url — https://www.linkedin.com/in/kentvpearce (high)
- “"c_linkedInURL":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/kentvpearce","c_marketingName":"Kent Pearce"” — firm_official
- Social presence — linkedin_active (medium)
- “"c_linkedInURL":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/kentvpearce"” — firm_official
- Press awards — Barron's "Top 1,500 Financial Advisors" 2014-2026 (#1 in Maryland, 2026), Barron's "Top 100 Financial Advisors" 2026 — rank 41, Barron's "Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams" 2024-2026 (team) (high)
- “"nameOfAwardOrHonor":"Barron’s “Top 1,500 Financial Advisors”","yearsReceived":"2014-2026"” — firm_official
- “"nameOfAwardOrHonor":"Barron’s “Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams”","yearsReceived":"2024-2026"” — firm_official
Visual brand
- Has distinct logo — no (medium)
- “The Pearce Group’s mission is to serve as trusted advisors to high‑net‑worth individuals and families by delivering disciplined investment management, thoughtful wealth planning, and highly personalized guidance.” — firm_official
- Logo url — gap: not_found_after_search
- Visual brand notes — Merrill corporate template — no team mark. Blue/white with the Merrill bull; clean sans-serif type; square studio headshots plus generic aspirational lifestyle stock photography. Text-only team name. (medium)
- “Merrill Private Wealth Management is committed to providing a select group of clients with highly personalized one-on-one service.” — firm_official