This $2 Billion Merrill Lynch Iron Woman Left Law To Follow The Money

Name: Michelle Mayer

Firm: Merrill Private Wealth Management

Location: Naples, Florida

AUM: $2 billion

Forbes Rankings: Top Women Wealth Advisors, Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State

Background: After earning her undergraduate degree at Wake Forest University and graduating from Georgetown’s law school, Michelle Mayer spent a decade rising up the ranks at big law firm DLA Piper working with some of America’s wealthiest families. “I was working with a lot of wealth managers who simply didn’t understand how to implement many of these complicated sophisticated trust structures and didn’t know how to invest in those vehicles,” she says. So Mayer decided to fill that void herself, moving to the wealth management side at the beginning of 2007. Her average client account is about $40 million, and her team puts together structures like trusts and family limited partnerships to preserve and grow their wealth. Mayer doesn’t do any advertising, bringing on new clients through referrals and word of mouth.

Competitive Edge: Mayer thinks her experience as an attorney helps her take a more holistic perspective when she works with a client’s lawyers and accountants to lower their tax bills and implement multigenerational or charitable structures. Says Mayer, “It’s not just about asset allocation, it’s about asset location, because if you don’t understand how the tax laws work, it doesn’t matter what the return is if the government’s keeping 50% of it.”

Investment Outlook: “I think the greatest risk clients have today that they might not even realize is reinvestment risk,” Mayer says. “They’re looking at short-term securities in an inverted yield curve world. Six months from now, it’s likely that rates are going to be lower.” That means income at attractive rates now in high-yield accounts may be harder to put to work later in the year. Mayer is also looking at alternatives like private debt and private equity for her clients who typically already have enough liquidity.

Stock Strategy: With the S&P 500 back at record highs after roaring in 2023, Mayer is repositioning her public portfolios to take advantage of where stocks still may be undervalued. “We’re looking at how to access the 493 stocks that haven’t performed like the ‘Magnificent Seven; over the past year, gaining access to equal weighted indexes and looking to diversify exposure,” says Mayer.

Best Advice: Mayer advocates patience for clients when an investment doesn’t pay off instantly. “Sometimes the hardest thing to do is sit on your hands, but it’s often the best thing to do,” she tells them. “When you own a really good asset, it’s hard to watch other people want to pay less for that asset than it’s worth and to learn how to be patient.”

Diversity: “I love being one of the women in this industry, because we just are set apart from the very start. It’s easy to differentiate ourselves,” says Mayer. “We think differently, we approach problems differently, we communicate differently, we build relationships differently, so it’s surprising to me that there aren’t more women.”

Off The Clock: Mayer has finished six Ironman triathlons and 21 half Ironmans, with four more halfs on tap for 2024 in places like the Dominican Republic and Chattanooga. Clients often join her for the races. “I love the training because it mellows me out. I’m normally a pretty high-strung person and this job is not for the weak. I do the triathlons just to keep everything steady,“ says Mayer. “A lot of advisors are great golfers. I find golf to be pretty boring because your heart rate’s too low.”