Best-in-State · rank 34 · Phoenix, Arizona · listed firm: Merrill Wealth Management
Identity & firm
- Firm — Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc (Merrill Wealth Management) (high)
- “Sean Waltz, CIMA®, CPWA®, CEPA® - Managing Director, Wealth Management Advisor at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management” — social_or_third_party_db
- Parent company — Bank of America (high)
- “Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (MLPF&S) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation.” — professional_press
- Firm type — wirehouse (high)
- “Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch unit is referred to as 'the wirehouse' in industry discussions.” — professional_press
- Team name — Waltz-Walker & Associates (high)
- “Waltz - Walker & Associates - Financial Advisors in Phoenix, AZ 85016 | Merrill” — firm_official
- Team size — 5 (medium)
- “The team includes Sean Waltz (Managing Director, Wealth Management Advisor), Jennifer Walker (Senior Vice President, Wealth Management Advisor), Payton Marie Sorensen (Registered Wealth Management Client Associate), Nath” — firm_official
- CRD — 2335889 (high)
- “Sean Waltz (CRD# 2335889) is an Investment Advisor Representative working at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated in Phoenix, AZ” — professional_press
- Years experience — 29 (high)
- “Sean Waltz (CRD# 2335889) is an Investment Advisor Representative working at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated in Phoenix, AZ and has over 29 years of experience in the finance industry.” — professional_press
- Designations — CEPA, CIMA, CPWA (high)
- “Sean Waltz, CIMA®, CPWA®, CEPA® - Managing Director, Wealth Management Advisor” — social_or_third_party_db
Book of business
- Team AUM ($M) — 990 (high)
- “Team Assets (Custodied): $990M” — forbes_shook
- Account minimum ($M) — 2 (high)
- “Minimum account size for new business: $2M” — forbes_shook
- Typical client net worth ($M) — 25 (high)
- “Typical Net Worth of Relationships: $5-50M” — forbes_shook
- Client niche — business owners, executives, professionals pre-retirees (medium)
- “The team provides personalized guidance to a select group of families and individuals through a time-tested collaborative approach, focusing on working with executives, professionals, business owners and pre-retirees.” — firm_official
- “As a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), Sean Waltz is equipped with the training, skills, and tools needed to strengthen relationships with business owners” — professional_press
- Custodians — not_applicable (high)
- “Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc is a wirehouse broker-dealer and does not function as an independent RIA requiring external custodians.” — firm_official
- Fee model — aum_fee (medium)
- “You can work one-on-one with your dedicated financial advisor to help you build a comprehensive financial strategy for an asset-based fee in an investment advisory program” — firm_official
Positioning & marketing
- Website url — https://advisor.ml.com/sites/az/phoenix-az/waltz-walker (high)
- “Waltz - Walker & Associates - Financial Advisors in Phoenix, AZ 85016 | Merrill” — firm_official
- Value proposition (verbatim) — As a primary advisor, he serves as a central point of contact—helping clients navigate sophisticated strategies for transferring wealth across generations, optimizing tax efficiency, and aligning financial approach with both near-term objectives and long-term legacy goals. (medium)
- “As a primary advisor, he serves as a central point of contact—helping clients navigate sophisticated strategies for transferring wealth across generations, optimizing tax efficiency, and aligning financial approach with ” — firm_official
- Differentiators — Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) specialization for business owners, Multi-generational wealth transfer expertise, Tax efficiency and legacy planning focus, Collaborative team approach with dedicated specialists, 29+ years of industry experience (medium)
- “As a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), Sean Waltz is equipped with the training, skills, and tools needed to strengthen relationships with business owners and serve as their most trusted advisor.” — professional_press
- 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/seanwaltz (high)
- “Sean Waltz, CIMA®, CPWA®, CEPA® - Managing Director, Wealth Management Advisor, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management” — social_or_third_party_db
- Social presence — linkedin_active (medium)
- “Sean Waltz maintains an active LinkedIn profile as Managing Director at Merrill Wealth Management” — social_or_third_party_db
- Press awards — Barron's America's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors (2020-2021, 2024), Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors for Arizona (2025, ranked #16), Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams (2025, ranked #14) (high)
- “Sean Waltz has been recognized by Barron's 'America's Top 1200 Financial Advisors State-by-State' in 2020-2021 and 2024.” — professional_press
- “Sean Waltz was ranked #16 on the Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list for Arizona - High Net Worth in 2025.” — forbes_shook
Visual brand
- Has distinct logo — no (medium)
- “Waltz-Walker & Associates operates under Merrill Lynch Wealth Management branding” — firm_official
- Logo url — gap: not_found_after_search
- Visual brand notes — Team operates under Merrill Lynch corporate branding (minimalist geometric mark with clean wordmark, representing Bank of America's 2019 rebrand) (medium)
- “The Merrill logo presents a minimalist geometric mark paired with a clean wordmark, representing Bank of America's 2019 rebrand that simplified the historic Merrill Lynch identity” — professional_press