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In the document, references to “Merrill” mean Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and its afliates. References to ERISA plan accounts means accounts (other than SEP,
SIMPLE and BASIC Accounts) are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended.
The information contained in this document is provided for informational purposes only and is not meant to replace your close review of the terms and conditions contained in the
agreements for the Merrill programs and accounts, the brochures and disclosures relating to the investment advisory programs and investment products, including individual securities.
The fee information covered here does not cover all available investment types or solutions or certain fees that apply to securities activities in your account. Additional fees
apply when executing transactions in international markets. These fees include local country costs and fees, local broker fees, stamp taxes, markups, markdowns and dealer spread charges in
connection with foreign currency exchange conversions. Certain of these fees are included in the execution price for the security as a net price and are not reected as separate charges on
your trade conrmations or account statements. The Merrill Schedule of Miscellaneous Account and Service Fees also has information on other fees and charges relating to your account or
account activities.
An MFSA is limited in what he or she can oer you and they are compensated dierently than an Advisor. We may expand the list of securities and investment solutions available in an MFSA-
serviced Account, without notice to you. If you work with an MFSA, please discuss these limitations with him or her and how it may aect your investment approach.
Merrill oers a broad range of brokerage, investment advisory (including nancial planning) and other services. There are important dierences between brokerage and investment advisory
services, including the type of advice and assistance provided, the fees charged, and the rights and obligations of the parties. It is important to understand the dierences, particularly when
determining which service or services to select. For more information about these services, the applicable fees and their dierences, speak with your Advisor or MFSA, as the case may be, or
reference the Client Relationship Summary (Form CRS) and the Summary of Programs and Services at ml.com/relationships. Our CRS provides more information about our obligations to you.
For information about our brokerage services and fees, see our Best Interest Disclosure Statement. Before enrolling in IAP or SPA, you should review the applicable program ADV Brochure.
These disclosures, available at ml.com/relationships, provide more information about the capabilities, qualications and compensation of our nancial advisors, as well as conicts of interest
and other matters.
The way we make money from the purchase and sales of investment products, among other things, creates a conict of interest associated with any recommendation of your nancial
advisor. Merrill and our nancial advisors, as well as our afliates, benet from transactions in your account. Financial advisors earn compensation and benets based on the revenue that
Merrill earns from client transactions and/or the fees paid in our investment advisory programs like IAP and SPA. A nancial advisor will have a nancial interest in charging more for
transactions where they have the discretion to do so or recommending transactions that generate higher amounts of revenue for Merrill and compensation or benet for them, rather
than those transactions that generate lower amounts of revenue. In addition, the more trades that you make in your Account, the more we and/or our nancial advisors get paid or
beneted, creating a nancial incentive to recommend transactions in your Account. There is a conict of interest when your nancial advisor recommends an account or program type, a
security transaction or investment strategy where it is expected that Merrill will earn greater revenue over another account or program type, security transaction or investment strategy.
More information is available in the Best Interest Disclosure Statement and in the ADV brochures for the IAP and SPA programs.
Additional information regarding transaction and other fees
Fees, charges, commissions, other transaction charges, fund sales charges, and the fees and charges for new issue transactions are determined by reference to various schedules and
methodologies and pricing arrangements and agreements in eect from time to time and which are subject to change. Fee ranges are provided for informational purposes only. In
certain transactions, minimum commission charges will apply. Certain commissions may be discounted by your Advisor at his or her discretion. Individual circumstances will determine
commission prices and whether you qualify for any waivers or discounts.
Fixed income transactions. The markup or markdown amount compensates us for executing the transaction. Purchases and sales of xed income securities may occur in the over-the-
counter markets and Merrill may act in a principal capacity (for its own account) in executing your order. The maximum markup/markdown will vary based on various criteria including
(1) product type (corporate bonds have higher markups/markdowns than government products); (2) maturity (shorter maturities have lower markups/markdowns); and (3) whether the
transaction is a purchase or a sale (purchases have higher markups than markdowns for sales due to the buy and hold nature of xed income securities). Certain xed income security
features such as call dates may result in lower markups/markdowns than shown in the xed income schedule. For products priced on a discount basis, including treasury bills, agency
discount notes and commercial paper, the markup can be up to 0.20% and there is no markdown. Mortgage-backed securities are subject to the same markups/markdowns as corporate
bonds and assessed on the security’s average life. Preferred securities are generally traded on stock exchanges where equity commissions will apply. When preferred securities are traded
in the over-the-counter markets, they are subject to the maximum markups/markdowns for xed income securities noted above.
When your transaction is executed in a principal capacity, markups/markdowns are disclosed on client conrmation statements as a total dollar amount and as a percentage of the
prevailing market price. Where a trade is executed by Merrill as agent, markups/markdowns are not charged but commissions may be charged and will be disclosed on client conrmation
statements. Commissions are subject to the same maximums as the markups/markdowns described above.
Mutual fund arrangements. We have prepared and provided to you a document entitled Mutual Fund Investing, which goes into greater detail on fees and expenses for mutual fund
share classes available through us. Fees and expenses in a mutual fund, including the sales charges paid by the fund to Merrill in connection with a purchase of fund shares, reduce
the net asset value of the fund and the investment return. Actual sales charges and trails, breakpoints and sales waivers are controlled by each fund’s prospectus and vary according to
type of strategy and fund. Please refer to each fund’s specic prospectus to understand the particular features of each share class. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
maintains a Mutual Fund Expense Analyzer tool on its website at www.nra.org/fundanalyzer that may help you in making a decision about which share class is best for you.
Merrill has entered into agreements with various mutual fund families or their service providers to be paid for sub-accounting and other services. Each fund’s operating costs include
(like other mutual fund expenses) its allocable share of the fees and expenses of these services. These service arrangements generally vary by mutual fund. The sub-accounting service
fee is deducted directly from the client’s investment in the mutual fund and/or paid by the fund’s service providers. In addition, mutual fund sponsors or managers pay Merrill a fee for
marketing support services that compensates us for the services we provide to our nancial advisors and to third-party mutual fund sponsors and distributors, for ongoing maintenance
of information and for due diligence relating to the oering of mutual funds at Merrill.
Alternative Investment arrangements. We or our afliates have negotiated fee sharing arrangements with managers of certain hedge funds and private market and real assets funds.
Under these arrangements, we or our afliates receive additional compensation in order to defray certain costs related to administrative, operational, marketing or other services we
provide in connection with your investment. The additional compensation is based on portions of the management fees, performance-based compensation and/or other asset-based
fees payable by these funds to the fund manager or its afliates or that are attributable to investments made in the fund through us or our afliates, including investments made by
you. The actual terms of our fee sharing arrangements with fund managers are disclosed in the oering materials of the relevant Alternative Investment fund or feeder fund, subject to
condentiality requirements and other obligations imposed by the fund managers.
Annuities arrangements. Merrill as broker-dealer and our afliate, Merrill Lynch Life Agency Inc. (MLLA) as general agent, have entered into selling agreements with unafliated
insurance companies to oer annuities. For annuities purchased in brokerage accounts, MLLA and your Advisor represent the insurance company in connection with the sale of the
annuity and provide services to you on behalf of the insurance company. Variable annuities and other registered annuity products are oered by prospectus. The terms and expenses for
each annuity (including surrender charges, optional benet charges and other insurance company expenses) are set out in a contract between you (annuity owner) and the insurance
company (annuity issuer). The commissions outlined above are paid to MLLA by the annuity issuer. The annuity issuer includes these charges in the pricing of its products. All annuity
contract guarantees, including optional benets, xed rates and annuity payout rates, are backed by the claims-paying ability of the annuity issuer. They are not backed by Merrill or its
afliates and neither Merrill nor its afliates makes any representations or guarantees regarding the claims-paying ability of the annuity issuer.
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