PRINCETON, N.J., March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Merrill Lynch & Co. today
announced the introduction of the Strategy Power program, a comprehensive,
fee-based investment-management service that enables clients to easily
implement investment strategies formulated by its award-winning Global
Securities and Research team. Clients can utilize other proprietary and
non-proprietary investment strategies as well.
The program offers seven disciplined strategies with varying levels of
risk, market capitalization, investment styles and return characteristics.
Working with their Financial Consultants, Merrill Lynch clients can select the
strategies that best meet their individual financial goals. Client portfolios
will be adjusted periodically by Merrill Lynch investment managers to reflect
current investment recommendations.
"Many clients have told us that they love our research recommendations but
want a simple way to implement them," said Allen N. Jones, Merrill Lynch
Senior Vice President and Director of Private Client Marketing. "Strategy
Power gives clients the tools they need to harness the power of Merrill Lynch
and put it to work for them automatically in a customized way. Many investors
will find this program to be a superior way to buy equities."
The Strategy Power program is available to clients with a minimum of
$50,000 to invest, starting at an all-inclusive fee of 2% of assets, which
decreases (as a percentage) as assets increase and includes all transactions,
account maintenance and handling charges. The program can be implemented
within a taxable central-asset account and/or a tax-deferred retirement
account.
"Client response to our fee-based and professionally managed money
programs has been tremendous," said Mr. Jones. "Strategy Power combines the
best of both and makes them accessible to a broader client base by offering a
much lower point of entry than most discretionary accounts."
Initial strategy selections in the program include:
-- Large Cap, Growth. Seeks capital appreciation through an approach to
stock selection developed by Merrill Lynch's Investment Strategy
Department to assess the relative attractiveness of stocks followed by
Merrill Lynch research analysts, based on the evaluation of market
sectors, industry groups, and individual stock characteristics. Client
portfolios will hold up to 25 stocks.
-- Large Cap, Core. Seeks capital appreciation and dividend income
through an approach to stock selection developed by Merrill Lynch's
Investment Strategy Department to assess the relative attractiveness of
stocks followed by Merrill Lynch research analysts, based on the
evaluation of market sectors, industry groups, and individual stock
characteristics. Client portfolios will hold up to 25 stocks.
-- Large Cap, Relative Value. Seeks capital appreciation and dividend
income through a quantitative approach to stock selection, created by
Merrill Lynch's Quantitative Research Department. Client portfolios
will generally hold 25 stocks with the lowest price-to-earnings ratio,
selected from S&P 500 stocks according to both value and growth
criteria.
-- Large Cap, Growth. Portfolios are selected from S&P Industrial Index
stocks with a history of stable earnings and the potential for price
appreciation, as indicated by proprietary models developed by Merrill
Lynch's Quantitative Research Department. Client portfolios will hold
generally 15-20 stocks.
-- Small Cap. Portfolios are selected based upon 25-30 relatively
high-growth, small-capitalization stocks, which Merrill Lynch analysts
believe are priced at a discount relative to their future earnings
potential.
-- Large Cap, Value. Seeks capital appreciation and dividend income by
selecting the 10 highest dividend-yielding stocks in the 30-stock Dow
Jones Industrial Average.
-- Large Cap, Relative Value. Seeks capital appreciation and dividend
income by selecting 15 stocks from the S&P Industrial Index that have
the highest dividend yield and meet specific capitalization and quality
criteria.
To monitor progress and measure performance versus goals, clients will
receive Merrill Lynch's comprehensive Strategy Power Asset Information and
Management(SM) (AIM(R)) performance-measurement report on a quarterly basis.
The Merrill Lynch Private Client Group serves more than four million
households, small- to-mid-sized businesses and regional financial institutions
using a planning-based financial services approach. Among the many services
available to our clients are brokerage, personal credit, insurance, home
financing and trust services, as well as retirement- and group-
employee-benefit services and business financing. Merrill Lynch clients are
served by 18,200 Financial Consultants in more than 900 branch offices
worldwide. As of Dec. 31, 1998 investors had entrusted Merrill Lynch with
more than $1.4 trillion in client assets.
SOURCE Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.merrilllynch.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/555800.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 555800
CONTACT:
Wendell Wood Collins, 609-282-3121,
Wendell_Collins@ml.com, or Susan Thomson, 212-449-2004,
sthomson@exchange.ml.com, both of Merrill Lynch & Co.
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