Darren M. Mazzoni
Managing Director
Senior Financial Advisor
Senior Resident Director
Portfolio Manager

Darren began his career with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in 2003 after earning his bachelor’s degree in economics from The College of William & Mary. His focus is to help care for all aspects of clients’ financial lives and align their investment portfolios to help them pursue their personal goals.

Thorough and sincere, Darren begins his process with an open, dynamic and direct dialogue in which he learns from and about clients. He believes that focusing on the true purpose of their wealth and what matters to them on a personal level is critical to developing a successful investment approach.

Darren guides clients through difficult decisions that may impact their financial lives. His disciplined approach centers on knowing his clients fully so he’s in the best possible position to help them build their wealth, develop an income stream for retirement and transfer their assets to successive generations or support for charitable organizations they believe in. Risk management is paramount to how Darren assesses investment opportunities. He seeks to achieve consistent performance over the long term and measures performance in terms of clients’ progress toward their objectives. Darren is a qualified Portfolio Manager who, in addition to providing traditional advice and guidance, can help clients pursue their objectives by building and managing his own personalized or defined strategies, which may incorporate individual stocks and bonds, Merrill Lynch model portfolios, and third-party investment strategies. When servicing clients through the firm’s Investment Advisory Program, a Portfolio Manager may manage his strategies on a discretionary basis. In addition, Darren was also recognized to Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors” list in 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019 (published annually Jan - April. Rankings based on data as of June 30 of prior year)

In addition to overseeing clients’ financial lives, he has served as Resident Director of the Newport News and Williamsburg offices. In his current role as Senior Resident Director of the Richmond office, Darren helps advisors embrace the Merrill principle of putting clients first.

Darren and his wife, Tracy, live in Richmond.

Named to the Forbes "Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" list in February 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019.* 

Source: The Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors” list, published annually Jan - April. Rankings based on data as of June 30 of prior year.

Data provided by SHOOK^® Research, LLC. Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors ranking was developed by SHOOK Research and is based on in-person, virtual, and telephone due diligence meetings to measure best practices; also considered are: client retention, industry experience, credentials, review of compliance records, firm nominations; and quantitative criteria, such as: assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Investment performance is not a criterion because client objectives and risk tolerances vary, and advisors rarely have audited performance reports. SHOOK’s research and rankings provide opinions intended to help investors choose the right financial advisor and are not indicative of future performance or representative of any one client’s experience. Past performance is not an indication of future results. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK Research receive compensation in exchange for placement on the ranking. For more information, please see www.SHOOKresearch.com. SHOOK is a registered trademark of SHOOK Research, LLC.

Named to Forbes "Best-in-State Next-Generation Wealth Advisors" list in 2019. 

Source: The Forbes “Best-in-State Next-Generation Wealth Advisors” list, published on September 4, 2019. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2019.

Forbes “Best-in-State Next-Generation Wealth Advisors” list was developed by SHOOK Research. Advisors considered for this ranking were born in 1980 or later with a minimum 4 years relevant experience; advisors have: built their own practices and lead their teams; joined teams and are viewed as future leadership; or a combination of both. Ranking algorithm is based on qualitative measures: telephone and in-person interviews, client retention, industry experience, credentials, review of compliance records, firm nominations; and quantitative criteria, such as: assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Investment performance is not a criteria because client objectives and risk tolerances vary, and advisors rarely have audited performance reports. Rankings are based on the opinions of SHOOK Research, LLC and not representative nor indicative of any one client’s experience, future performance, or investment outcome. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK Research receives compensation in exchange for placement on the ranking. Forbes is a trademark of Forbes Media LLC. All rights reserved. Rankings and recognition from Forbes 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 of the advisor.

 Named to Forbes "Top 250 Next-Generation Wealth Advisors" list in 2019.

*Source: The Forbes “Top Next-Generation Wealth Advisors” list, published on July 24, 2019. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2019.

Forbes’ “Top Next-Generation Wealth Advisors” list was developed by SHOOK Research. Advisors considered for this ranking were born in 1980 or later with a minimum of four years of relevant experience; advisors have: built their own practices and lead their teams; joined teams and are viewed as future leadership; or a combination of both. Ranking algorithm is based on qualitative measures: telephone and in-person interviews, client retention, industry experience, credentials, review of compliance records, firm nominations; and quantitative criteria, such as: assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Investment performance is not a criteria because client objectives and risk tolerances vary, and advisors rarely have audited performance reports. Rankings are based on the opinions of SHOOK Research, LLC and not representative nor indicative of any one client’s experience, future performance, or investment outcome. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK Research receives compensation in exchange for placement on the ranking. Forbes is a trademark of Forbes Media LLC. All rights reserved. Rankings and recognition from Forbes 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 of the advisor.  
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.