Merrill Edge Introduces New Fund Research Capability to Help Self-Directed Investors Evaluate Mutual Funds and ETFs

Robust New Online Experience Empowers Clients With Detailed Information About Holdings, Ratings, ESG Scores, Fees and Returns

Merrill Edge introduced Fund Story, a new research experience designed to help self-directed investors more easily evaluate mutual funds and ETFs, including holdings, costs and ratings. This innovative feature is designed to provide investors a greater understanding of their assets and ultimately help them make better investing decisions.

The new experience complements Stock Story, Merrill Edge’s award-winning stock research experience¹, launched in November 2017, as well as Portfolio Story, the company’s innovative new portfolio analysis and performance review tool launched last year. Through Stock Story, clients have access to jargon-free explanations of the basics of stock research; insights into what may be driving a company’s bottom line and performance; and professional analysis of company stocks. Merrill Edge also provides step-by-step guidance, helping clients seamlessly find answers to critical investment questions through Portfolio Story.

“We know our clients have a wealth of information available to them as they weigh a potential investment decision, and it’s not always easy to make sense of it all,” said Aron Levine, head of Merrill Edge. “This new capability goes beyond just providing access to critical information. Fund Story provides a curated, engaging and understandable experience that can empower our clients to make their financial lives better.”

Powered by patent-pending technology, Fund Story allows Merrill Edge’s clients to:

• Access a comprehensive overview of what’s held in a fund, including underlying holdings; sector and global exposure; and historical performance.
• Evaluate fund ratings from third-party research providers, including risk ratings that allow clients to understand the level of risk associated with investing in a fund.
• Gain a clear view of the costs of a fund, including fees associated with buying, selling and owning a fund.
• Understand how fees are assessed and how they impact returns – including a future value analysis which allows clients to see how fees impact returns over time.
• Assess whether a fund aligns with their personal values with environment, social, governance (ESG) fund scores from MSCI², a leading provider of investment decision support tools.

A recent Merrill Edge Report underscores Americans’ growing desire to make an impact with their investments. Fifty-seven percent of respondents say they are currently investing in causes they care about, with faith-based charities, women’s causes and environmental protection initiatives the most common.

To learn more about Merrill Edge and these updates, visit merrilledge.com.

¹ Merrill Edge was evaluated as one of 13 online brokers in StockBrokers.com 2018 Online Broker Review published on February 20, 2018. StockBrokers.com evaluated brokers using 292 variables across 10 categories. The Best-in-Class rating recognizes brokers that ranked in the top five in that category. Merrill Edge Stock Story received the industry award for the No. 1 New Tool. Learn more at https://www.stockbrokers.com/annual-broker-review. The ranking or ratings shown here may not be representative of all client experiences because they reflect an average or sampling of the client experiences. These rankings or ratings are not indicative of any future performance or investment outcome.

² Impact investing and/or environmental, social and governance (ESG) managers may take into consideration factors beyond traditional financial information to select securities, which could result in relative investment performance deviating from other strategies or broad market benchmarks, depending on whether such sectors or investments are in or out of favor in the market. Further, ESG strategies may rely on certain values-based criteria to eliminate exposures found in similar strategies or broad market benchmarks, which could also result in relative investment performance deviating.

Merrill Edge
Merrill Edge is a streamlined investment service that provides access to the investment insights of Merrill Lynch and the convenience of Bank of America banking. With Merrill Edge, clients can view their Merrill Edge investment and Bank of America bank accounts on one page online. They also have access to easy-to-use tools, actionable insights, step-by-step guidance and competitive pricing for online trades.

Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,400 retail financial centers, including more than 1,700 lending centers, more than 1,900 Merrill Edge investment centers and more than 1,300 business centers; approximately 16,100 ATMs; and award-winning digital banking with more than 36 million active users, including nearly 26 million mobile users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom. Click https://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/alertsto register for news email alerts.

www.bankofamerica.com

Merrill Edge Survey Methodology
Convergys (an independent market research company) conducted a nationally representative, panel-sample online survey on behalf of Merrill Edge Sept. 27-Oct. 13, 2018. The survey consisted of 1,034 mass affluent respondents throughout the U.S. Respondents in the study were defined as aged 18 to 40 (Gen Z/millennials) with investable assets between $50,000 and $250,000 or those aged 18 to 40 who have investable assets between $20,000 and $50,000 with an annual income of at least $50,000; or aged 41-plus with investable assets between $50,000 and $250,000. For this purpose, investable assets consist of the value of all cash, savings, mutual funds, CDs, IRAs, stocks, bonds and all other types of investments such as a 401(k), 403(B), and Roth IRA, but excluding primary home and other real estate investments. We conducted an oversampling of 300 mass affluents in Atlanta. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percent for the national sample and about +/- 5.6 percent for the oversample market, reported at a 95 percent confidence level.