Giovanni Bernetti brings a relaxed and dedicated approach to the financial services industry. First and foremost, he believes that it is all about you and your goals. For those individuals that are new to him he wants to get to know them. Learning their backgrounds and what they already have been doing, helps Giovanni and the individual select each other to ensure that it is a good working match. Giovanni’s experience and approach encourages a great developed relationship with clients. These are based on foundational clarity. He is continually building their relationship with trust and complete satisfaction as Giovanni provides a high quality of service, advice and attention to details.
Giovanni is based out of the Bloomington branch of Merrill and has clients throughout Central Illinois as well as many states. The majority of clients are local individuals and families that are business owners, business executives and professional people in several fields. Because of high client satisfaction, it only seems to make sense that his service model is based on referrals from friends and families of existing clients. As Giovanni says, “My primary responsibility is to make sure clients are realistic in their goals; which are established before our relationship starts.” His service is based on the individual needs of each client. To track the progress of a client’s wealth management plan, Giovanni meets with clients quarterly, either in person or by phone.

Giovanni has completed the exams for the Series 7, 63 and 66 FINRA registrations and the State of Illinois Health and Life Insurance licenses. He holds the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor^SM, CRPC^® designation, which will enable him to employ Wealth Management strategies at a higher level throughout his wealth management process. He received his Bachelors degree from Illinois State University in 1994.

Giovanni is married to Genevieve and resides in Bloomington, IL. They have a daughter Gianna and a son Lorenzo. He enjoys running, snow skiing, wake boarding, golfing, biking, traveling, cooking and relaxing with some wine. After growing up in the Chicago suburb of Palos Park and graduating from Illinois State, Giovanni continues to enjoy living in Central Illinois. He has a close relationship with his mother, three sisters and eight nephews and nieces. He has a puppy named Jasmine and two cats Twixie and Fennekin. When he has the time, he enjoys vacationing to Vail, Colorado where the skiing is plentiful!


Dena Harris, Registered Wealth Management Client Associate, has been with Merrill since 1998 and is responsible for all administrative matters. Dena is committed to and delivers the highest level of client satisfaction.
I follow the deep-seated Merrill tradition of participating in the communities we serve. This drives my interest in spending time volunteering with organizations in our community.