Lindsay Hans has overseen impressive growth as president and co-head of Merrill Wealth Management. Revenue was up 9% year over year to $20.7 billion in 2025, while client balances grew 12% to about $4 trillion.
But even more important is the work she does behind the scenes to ensure the growth is sustainable. Hans, in partnership with Merrill co-head Eric Schimpf, has been burnishing the company's training programs for new and established advisors. She also has been rolling out new tools designed to boost their efficiency and connecting them with business bankers to enhance sales opportunities.
"Lindsay has played a key role in positioning Merrill for long-term growth," Schimpf said. "She has a clear vision for the future of the business and is focused on helping advisors better serve clients through the full breadth of our platform."
Merrill operates one of the largest new advisor training programs in the country with about 2,400 participants. Hans has led efforts to provide trainees earlier immersion experiences and earlier opportunities to join teams.
"These updates reflect our continued commitment to developing talent at scale and ensuring we are well positioned to meet growing client demand in the years ahead," said Hans, who noted that clients expect more than just financial advice.
They are also looking for guidance on health, wellness and longevity, Hans said. "This is an area where we have long been a leader, providing research, guidance and programming to help clients think about health and longevity as part of their broader financial plan," Hans said.
At the same time, she has worked with Schimpf to introduce an AI-powered tool that helps Merrill advisors prepare for, participate in and follow up on meetings with clients. The tool is designed to streamline documentation, for example, by compiling notes on recent client activity ahead of time, generating meeting summaries and creating lists of next steps.
"More broadly, it reflects a significant opportunity for Merrill to continue scaling AI in a way that enhances productivity, while keeping advisors firmly at the center of the client relationship," Hans said.
Hans also is working on a new initiative to foster greater collaboration between Merrill's advisors and BofA's business bankers. The bank sees an opening to better serve business owners, whose needs span both company and personal finances, Hans said.
The early results are encouraging, Hans said. Referrals between advisors and business bankers have doubled, and joint meetings with advisors and bankers are up 300% year over year.
Hans has guided internal collaboration at the local level, as well. For two years, she served as Merrill's market sponsor for the Phoenix area, a role that connects senior bank leaders more closely to regions where the company does business. "It brings the full enterprise together to serve clients and ensure alignment across Bank of America's eight lines of business," she said.
Hans has been credited with making outsize progress in driving that alignment in the Southwest. She is bringing the same approach this year as market sponsor for New Jersey.
