As we closed out 2011, we added a couple of really great new hires to the Merriman team. Aries Lazaro came on board this past December as our new Assistant Controller as we bid adieu to Sandy Chudler, his predecessor who retired in February 2012. We wish Sandy many great ventures in her new life of leisure and we are truly excited to welcome Aries aboard!
Aries has five years of great experience as an Audit Supervisor for Clothier and Head. Although he enjoyed and valued his experience there, Aries was looking for a new opportunity to utilize his skills in a more expansive business capacity.
Born in Seattle, Aries grew up in the area and his parents still live in the house where he was raised. He graduated from Issaquah High School, then ventured north to Bellingham to attend Western Washington University where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting. Most of Aries family is in the Philippines, and he and his wife Mary have made several trips to visit. Aries and Mary are also new parents to their four month old daughter, Caroline. Here are a few fun, random facts about Aries that he was willing (well, some he was a little reluctant!) to share:
Aries is a big sports fan and an active hiker, loves camping and anything he can do in the great outdoors.
He once pitched a no-hitter while in sixth grade little league baseball!
Aries and Mary love to travel. Besides the Philippines, they have visited Italy, Spain and France. With the addition of little Caroline, he is wondering when they will travel again…
For the first week of his life, his name was Troy, but his dad decided the name just did not fit, so they changed it to his astronomical sign, Aries.
Aries frequently got himself in trouble as a child by cutting his own hair. His mom would give him a haircut, and he wouldn’t like it, so he’d sneak out to the back yard with a pair of scissors and have at it. Needless to say, his mom wasn’t too thrilled. He has since realized that a professional salon is a much better choice. J
We are very excited to have Aries joining our fantastic finance team at Merriman!
In continuing with our great hiring success in 2011, I have the pleasure of introducing our newest member to the Merriman team, Dawn McGeorge. Dawn joined us on April 27th and is the newest member of our support services team. By now you have likely had the chance to speak with Dawn, as she is one of the fantastic people you initially interact with when calling our office. She is a truly great addition to our already wonderful support services team!
Dawn has several years of great experience serving clients and trying to help make their experience memorable and pleasant. Dawn just moved to the Seattle area from North Carolina where she was the manager of a well-known barbecue restaurant called The Pit. She takes great pride in making sure our clients know how much we love working with them. She looks forward to her daily interactions and loves to help each of our clients in any way possible.
2011 has been a great year for hiring fantastic new team members at Merriman. Mallory Braun, our newest client services team member, joined us on March 31st. There is something quite soothing in her extremely pleasant phone voice. If you get the chance to speak with Mallory, you will quickly hear what I mean. She is a fabulous addition to our already wonderful client services team!
Mallory has three years of great client service experience under her belt, having worked for Key Bank prior to joining Merriman. She won numerous awards for achieving her goals and treating her clients with great care. Mallory gives every client an extraordinary experience and she is very excited about the interactions she has in talking with different Merriman clients each day.
Mallory grew up in Spokane, WA and went on to earn her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Washington in Seattle. She comes to us with a great deal of enthusiasm and truly wants to make a difference for our clients. You can read more about Mallory on our website, and here are a few fun facts that you won’t find in her bio:
Mallory was named after the TV character on the sit-com “Family Ties”
The first car she owned was built the same year she was born
She contemplated fashion or art school before deciding to attend the UW
She played tennis for her high school, Shadle Park
Mallory’s favorite vacation spot thus far is the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas
We are excited for you to get to know Mallory and we are thrilled to have her on our team!
If you have had the opportunity to speak with one of our great additions to the client services team, it’s likely you felt well taken care of when you hung up the phone. Mischa Bellarin is one of the newest members of our client service team. He has been rigorously working away at learning how we take great care of our clients at Merriman. Mischa has a great deal of genuineness, warmth, and he definitely wants to make sure our clients’ needs are met. He also aims to exceed expectations, as do all of our fabulous client service team members.
Mischa grew up in Tacoma, WA and went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics at Eastern Washington University. He comes to us with endless amounts of enthusiasm and truly wants to make a difference for our clients. To get you started, here are a few fun facts you won’t find in his bio on our website:
Mischa…
just got married in September of 2010.
has a cat who won a beauty contest last year.
loves to find hidden burger dives when on a road trip and collects t-shirts from each one.
recently started playing the board game “Agricola” with a few other Merriman team members.
We can’t wait for you to get to know Mischa and we are thrilled to have him on our team!
For the past eleven years, Scott Rothman has been a part of Merriman. When he started with us in March of 2000, Scott was originally part of our marketing efforts. Scott recalls his job as primarily answering phones and setting appointments. The company has grown quite a bit since the year 2000, and so have Scott’s responsibilities.
Moving from answering phones into our client services department, Scott has become a household name for many of our clients. They have gotten to know him over the years and come to trust his reliability when it comes to taking care of their needs. This is only one of the many reasons Scott was recently promoted to manage our client services team. (more…)
Merriman Wealth Management, LLC, an independent wealth management firm with over $3.5 billion in assets under management, is pleased to announce the promotion of two new principals – Wealth Advisors Aimee Butler, CFP®, and Chris Waclawik, AFC®, CFP®.
Merriman Wealth Management, LLC, an independent wealth management firm with over $3.6 billion in assets under management, is pleased to announce the additions of Geoffrey Curran, CPA/ABV, CFA, CFP® and Paige Lee, CFA, CFP®, CSRICTM to the firm’s investment committee.
Over the past few years, we’ve been asking our clients—to hear it in their own words—about the value they gain from working with us. Check out these top ten reasons why clients hire us.
I was recently reminded of a troubling statistic: Two-thirds of women do not trust their advisors. This is troubling, largely because it’s so preventable. Check out these tips all women should be aware of to improve this relationship and strengthen their financial futures.
One of the provisions of the CARES Act was a suspension of 2020 Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). For individuals who took a distribution early in 2020, they were given the opportunity to “undo” part or all of that distribution by returning funds to their IRA by August 31, 2020. Learn more about the tax reporting.
As we closed out 2011, we added a couple of really great new hires to the Merriman team. Aries Lazaro came on board this past December as our new Assistant Controller as we bid adieu to Sandy Chudler, his predecessor who retired in February 2012. We wish Sandy many great ventures in her new life of leisure and we are truly excited to welcome Aries aboard!
Mallory has three years of great client service experience under her belt, having worked for Key Bank prior to joining Merriman. She won numerous awards for achieving her goals and treating her clients with great care. Mallory gives every client an extraordinary experience and she is very excited about the interactions she has in talking with different Merriman clients each day.
He has been rigorously working away at learning how we take great care of our clients at Merriman. Mischa has a great deal of genuineness, warmth, and he definitely wants to make sure our clients’ needs are met. He also aims to exceed expectations, as do all of our fabulous client service team members.
For the past eleven years, 
