A team of Merrill Lynch advisers in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, whose senior member has been with the firm for more than 40 years, left last Friday to set up an independent firm.Herman Rij, who joined Merrill in 1971, and partners Jason Cort, Brian Cort and Kori Lannon - who is Herman Rij's daughter - have established Quadrant Private Wealth to manage the money of wealthy individuals, their businesses and charitable organizations primarily for fees rather than commissions. At Merrill, they managed between $900 million and $1 billion of client assets, said people familiar with their move who could not be quoted because the transfer has not been announced.A spokeswoman at Merrill, which is owned by Bank of America , confirmed they left the Bethlehem office but failed to comment on their assets or annual revenue.Calls to the partners were not immediately returned. Jason Cort has been with Merrill since 1997, Brian Cort since 2002 and Kori Lannon since 2008, according to regulatory records. At least one associate also left with the team, a person at Merrill's Bethlehem office said.
Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) is a bank holding company, and a financial holding company. Shares of BAC fell by 2.32% or $-0.35/share to $14.73. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $12.13 and as high as $18.03. On average, 105494000 shares of BAC exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 95907480.
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