Top Wealth + Best-in-State · rank 4 · Indianapolis, Indiana · listed firm: Merrill Wealth Management
Identity & firm
- Firm — Merrill Wealth Management (Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated) (high)
- “"ind_firstname":"RONALD","ind_middlename":"GENE","ind_lastname":"MENCIAS"” — sec_finra_regulatory
- “Payne & Mencias Group Merrill Lynch Wealth Management 510 E. 96th Street Suite 500 Indianapolis IN 46240” — firm_official
- Parent company — Bank of America (high)
- “Trust, fiduciary, and investment management services are provided by Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC, and wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation ("BofA Corp."), and its agents. Bank of America Private ” — firm_official
- Firm type — wirehouse (high)
- “"firm_name":"MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED","branch_city":"INDIANAPOLIS","branch_state":"IN","branch_zip":"46240","ia_only":"N","firm_bd_full_sec_number":"8-7221","firm_ia_full_sec_number":"801-14235” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Team name — Payne & Mencias Group (high)
- “The Payne & Mencias Group wants you to feel confident, comfortable, and supported from the moment we begin working together.” — firm_official
- Team size — 16 (high)
- “With access to our 16-member team with cumulative Merrill tenure of over 260 years and Merrill's investment insights, we work together to create an approach designed to help you move forward with clarity and purpose.” — firm_official
- CRD — 3258983 (high)
- “"ind_source_id":"3258983","ind_firstname":"RONALD","ind_middlename":"GENE","ind_lastname":"MENCIAS","ind_bc_scope":"Active","ind_ia_scope":"Active"” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Years experience — 26 (high)
- “"ind_industry_cal_date":"1999-09-01"” — sec_finra_regulatory
- “left EY in 1999 for PaineWebber's training program, earned his MBA at night from Butler University, then teamed up with Payne at Merrill in 2002” — forbes_shook
- Designations — CFP, CIMA, CPA (high)
- “Ronald Mencias , CFP®, CIMA® Managing Director , Wealth Management Advisor” — firm_official
- “Ron Mencias met Eric Payne as young CPAs at Ernst & Young in 1997” — forbes_shook
Book of business
- Team AUM ($M) — 3500 (high)
- “Team Assets (Custodied): $3.5B” — forbes_shook
- “Our team is proud that clients have entrusted us with over $4 billion in assets and liabilities, as of March 2026.” — firm_official
- Account minimum ($M) — 1 (high)
- “Minimum Account Size for New Business: $1M” — forbes_shook
- Typical client net worth ($M) — 15 (high)
- “Typical Net Worth of Relationships: $10-20M” — forbes_shook
- Client niche — private business owners, corporate executives and physicians navigating liquidity events (medium)
- “The team's client roster skews toward private business owners, corporate executives and physicians—and often those who are navigating liquidity events” — forbes_shook
- “16 team members serving roughly 500 families” — forbes_shook
- Custodians — gap: not_applicable
- Fee model — fee_plus_commission (medium)
- “"firm_bd_full_sec_number":"8-7221","firm_ia_full_sec_number":"801-14235"” — sec_finra_regulatory
Positioning & marketing
- Website url — https://advisor.ml.com/sites/in/indiana-pmw/payne_mencias (high)
- “Payne & Mencias Group - Financial Advisors in Indianapolis, IN 46240 | Merrill” — firm_official
- Value proposition (verbatim) — The Payne & Mencias Group wants you to feel confident, comfortable, and supported from the moment we begin working together. Our goal is to make financial conversations clear and approachable, giving you the space to ask questions to feel informed and at ease throughout your financial journey. (high)
- “The Payne & Mencias Group wants you to feel confident, comfortable, and supported from the moment we begin working together. Our goal is to make financial conversations clear and approachable, giving you the space to ask” — firm_official
- Differentiators — 16-member team with over 260 years of cumulative Merrill tenure, Planning that is practical, intentional, and flexible enough to evolve with your life, Over $4 billion in client assets and liabilities (March 2026), Bank of America Private Bank trust/fiduciary plus banking and lending in one place, Same personalized care for clients locally and across the country (high)
- “We believe financial planning works best when it is practical, intentional, and flexible enough to evolve with your life.” — firm_official
- “At the Payne & Mencias Group, we bring together our Merrill tenure of over 260 years and the full range of Merrill resources to support the many parts of your financial life. Through our team, you have access to Merrill'” — firm_official
- Content marketing — occasional (medium)
- “Shifting gears: New drivers of potential market expansion 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)
- “About Us Philosophy Approach More Philosophy Approach Capabilities” — firm_official
- Books published — 0 (medium)
- “Ronald Mencias , CFP®, CIMA® Managing Director , Wealth Management Advisor” — firm_official
- Linkedin url — https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronald-mencias-96200012 (medium)
- “Ronald Mencias - Merrill Lynch Wealth Management” — social_or_third_party_db
- Social presence — gap: not_found_after_search
- Press awards — Barron's "Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams", 2025-2026, Barron's "America's Top 1200 Financial Advisors State-by-State", 2010-2025, On Wall Street "Top 40 Advisors Under 40", 2013-2016, Forbes feature: "Inside This $3.2 Billion Merrill Team That Is Not Rushing Into Alternatives" (Nov 2025) (high)
- “Barron’s “Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams”, 2025-2026 (Published annually in May. Years pre-dating 2024, published as Barron's "Top 100 Private Wealth Management Teams" list annually March - April. Rankings based” — firm_official
- “The team's client roster skews toward private business owners, corporate executives and physicians—and often those who are navigating liquidity events” — professional_press
Visual brand
- Has distinct logo — no (high)
- “Payne & Mencias Group Merrill Lynch Wealth Management 510 E. 96th Street Suite 500 Indianapolis IN 46240” — firm_official
- Logo url — gap: not_found_after_search
- Visual brand notes — Standard Merrill advisor-microsite template: corporate bull branding, no team mark. Team wordmark set as plain text; full-bleed team and lifestyle photography served from dyn.mktgcdn.com; clean sans-serif, restrained navy-and-white corporate palette. (medium)
- “<img style="object-fit:cover;object-position:center;width:100%;aspect-ratio:3390 / 1130" src="https://dyn.mktgcdn.com/p/zOWCy2JbbfJ-C9CXCMZSabovqq1RQFQDfWmFroTt0Mo/width=500,height=500"” — firm_official