Piepenkotter Team

Our Philosophy

We believe your unique goals should be at the center of all of your financial decisions and form the foundation of your financial strategy. Because significant wealth requires customized goals\-based financial strategies, we believe in building lasting relationships with a limited number of clients, taking the time to understand your most important priorities for today, tomorrow and your long\-term future. Our philosophy celebrates collaboration. Working with a team of specialists, we draw on the resources and insights of a global financial institution to create strategies that reflect your aspirations for yourself and current and future generations of your family. Finally, we believe that while significant wealth brings complex challenges, our experience, passion and perspectives can help you simplify your life.

Who We Work With

**Company Founders, Private Business Owners \& Entrepreneurs** When you have built your own business, your personal finances and the life of your company are closely intertwined. You may be thinking about how to invest in your company's growth while also deciding how best to use your personal assets. Helping ensure the future of your business likely involves employee benefits, retirement plans and succession planning. Helping secure your family's legacy could entail wealth transfer strategies, trusts and philanthropy. Whatever your specific needs, we at Merrill Private Wealth Management can help entrepreneurs and business owners balance their personal financial lives with their life's work. We are dedicated in providing the experience and resources to help support your ongoing success. **Intergenerational Family Wealth** As a family that spans multiple generations, you have needs that go beyond preserving assets, tax minimization strategies and designating heirs. Your goals also likely include passing on values and helping the rising generation become effective stewards. We can help with personalized wealth transfer strategies, family wealth education and developing and implementing philanthropic visions. In working with you to create an approach that reflects your family's intentions and helps ensure your assets are distributed according to your wishes, we proceed in a manner that recognizes the complexities of your life challenges and the unique nature of your goals. Our extensive experience working with other families of significant wealth helps us to see and share best practices to help you achieve them. **Women** As a woman, you are well aware of how inaccurate stereotypes about gender and money can be. Beyond some specific challenges — for example, planning for the statistical probability of outliving a spouse — managing your finances means avoiding preconceived assumptions while gaining a full understanding of who you are as an investor and what you want to achieve for your career, your family and your legacy. Merrill Private Wealth Management works with a select group of wealthy individuals and families to help them pursue the goals that matter most to them. We strive to get to know our clients on a personal level so we can offer boutique\-like services and the resources of a global firm to create financial strategies specifically for their life and needs. **Corporate Executives** We understand the complexities that come with your executive position and the extreme demands on your time. We can help you develop a customized strategy that your finances and compensation require. We can help with risk management strategies for your concentrated stock position while navigating complex SEC rules, trading restrictions and reporting requirements. If you've just been promoted and would like help evaluating your new compensation plan, or if you're looking to develop a long\-term financial strategy for you and your family — designed to enable you to live life as you want it, with reliable access to cash — we can help simplify your financial life, as well as develop new strategies as your career and goals evolve. **Family Offices** As private wealth advisors with Merrill Private Wealth Management, we work with prominent families to help them manage the ongoing complexities they face. Our deep experience with family offices enables us to tailor a range of services to help meet your specific needs. We can provide access to Merrill for investment and wealth management strategies, and to Bank of America for governance, asset custody and administration, as well as assisting in the financial education of younger family members. In working with you to create and implement plans reflecting your specific intentions, our goal is to help your family enterprise succeed, and that your knowledge and values are passed along to the next generation. Together, we will focus on strategies that recognize the unique nature of your family's mission, history and goals. **Nonprofit Organizations** Your passion drives your organization's mission, and you depend on an investment portfolio and an effective staff to carry on its important work. As private wealth advisors with Merrill Private Wealth Management, we possess a keen understanding of the challenges you face, including maintaining operational efficiency and productivity through uneven market circumstances, growing competition for donations, and increased fiduciary requirements. Drawing on our extensive capabilities to help you fulfill your organization's mission, we can provide access to the customized services your organization needs with discretion and skill, such as strategic planning, portfolio management, administrative and board support, and advisory solutions.

Grounded in Careful Analysis

We know the value of prudent planning. We begin each client relationship by formulating a detailed and customized family wealth strategy. This long\-term analysis directs our approach by reflecting the unique needs, priorities, and preferences of each client. Our strategic outlook allows us to develop informed recommendations and create workable action plans.When designing investment programs, we look to create all\-weather portfolios. We develop long\-term asset allocation strategies that pursue a client's objectives within his or her risk parameters. Around this foundation, we strive to bolster returns through tactical allocations to capture timely market opportunities. We apply the knowledge, skill, and judgment we have gained through many years in the investment industry to arrive at recommendations that are thoughtfully devised and carefully executed. With access to "best in class" institutional managers across all asset classes, we strive to engage the most appropriate and tax\-efficient strategies for each client.*\*Asset allocation does not ensure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets.* *\*Merrill, its affiliates, and financial advisors do not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice. You should consult your legal and/or tax advisors before making any financial decisions.*

Relentless in Our Pursuit of Excellence

Client service and support are the foundation of our service model. We work tirelessly to meet client needs and exceed expectations. On a regular basis, we review a client's financial profile, assessing the following metrics:\* Investment allocation across asset classes\* Tactical capture of market opportunities\* Investment performance\* Adherence to, and progress toward, the objectives outlined in the family wealth strategyThrough active communication with clients and their external tax and legal advisors, we identify areas that need rapid, concerted attention. We embrace our role as client stewards, proactively pursuing the issues that are most pressing to clients with diligence and persistence. Drawing upon Merrill's award\-winning research, investment banking capabilities, and trading and investment platforms, we seek to provide clients with a superior investment experience, matched by exceptional client service and the highest level of integrity. ~\*Extel announced BofA Global Research as one of the Top Global Research Firms in 2025 based on surveys held throughout the year. Extel creates rankings of the top research analysts in a wide variety of specializations, drawn from the choices of portfolio managers and other investment professionals. The 2025 Global Research Leaders ranking lists sell\-side research providers by the combined total number of positions earned across Extel's 2025 research team surveys. Results of each survey are published separately throughout the year, beginning in February 2025 with the Japan Research Team and concluding in December 2025 with the Global Fixed Income Research Team. Rankings for each poll are determined strictly by using numerical scores. Extel takes the number of votes awarded to each firm in a sector and weight it in relation to the size of the institution responding and rating it awarded. Firms are designated runners\-up when their scores fall within 35 percent of the third\-place scores. BofA Global Research is research produced by BofA Securities, Inc ("BofAS") and/or one or more of its affiliates. BofAS is a registered broker\-dealer, Member [SIPC](http://www.sipc.org/), and wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation. Rankings and recognition from Extel are no guarantee of future investment success and do not ensure that a current or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance results and such rankings should not be construed as an endorsement.~

Insight

**Insight** In a life with significant wealth, the financial decisions you make can often have a cascading effect — impacting you, your family, your business and even the greater community. We understand the nuances of these challenges and can help give you the insight you need to navigate important conversations and make more informed decisions. * Access [information and ideas](https://www.pbig.ml.com/latest\-thinking/research\-insights.html) to help you pursue your goals * Tap into the knowledge of specialists who work closely with your Merrill Private Wealth advisor

Simplicity

**Simplicity** Wealth should liberate you, freeing you to pursue passions and interests. Managing the ever\-increasing complexity of your financial life, however, can quickly become all\-consuming. At Merrill, we work to help transform the way you interact with your wealth by distilling that complexity into clear findings and thoughtful guidance, grounded in a personalized plan. What's more, as a Merrill Private Wealth Management client, you have access to a [full range of solutions and services](https://www.pbig.ml.com/solutions.html) designed to help you address the challenges and opportunities significant wealth can bring.

Perspective

**Perspective** Considerable wealth requires a much longer\-term vision — a commitment to maintaining your wealth throughout your lifetime and for generations to come. We're familiar with the demands that kind of time horizon puts on your needs. With our diverse knowledge and experience, we can help safeguard you against reactionary thinking while identifying opportunities in the future. Plus, as a client, you have access to our dedicated Private Wealth Services, including: * [Merrill Center for Family Wealth](https://www.pbig.ml.com/solutions/merrill\-center\-for\-family\-wealth.html)^®^ * [Strategic Wealth Advisory Group](https://www.pbig.ml.com/solutions/strategic\-wealth\-advisory\-group.html) * [Family Office Services](https://www.pbig.ml.com/solutions/family\-office.html)

Recognition