Merrill Lynch to open office in Fort Collins in December

Merrill Lynch will open a Northern Colorado office in Fort Collins Dec. 11.
The financial-services company will launch the office with three financial consultants and one support person, but even that small presence will put the company in direct competition with rivals such as Smith Barney Inc., Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. and PaineWebber.
“We should have been there probably 10 years ago,´ said Forrest D. “Deek” Smith, senior resident vice president for operations for Merrill Lynch in downtown Denver. “It’s a very attractive market that we’re not in. In fact, it’s probably one of the larger attractive markets that we’re not in in the United States. We’re finally capitalizing on an opportunity that we think is pretty outstanding.”
Smith said Merrill Lynch already has a “very broad base” of business in Northern Colorado. He said the brokerage’s business here amounts to almost $2 million without even having an office.
Northern Colorado’s small businesses, net “inmigration”, rising home prices and many other factors make the area attractive, he added.
Merrill Lynch will offer a wide range of financial services, including cash management, lines of credit, private placement of debt, business and personal financial plans, initial public offerings, 401(k) plans, employee stock-ownership plans and other employee benefits.
He said the fact the Merrill Lynch’s competitors are already operating here weighed in the decision to open the office.
“I would say the fact that you have a fairly large number of people already in the market doing well is certainly a factor,” Smith said.
The office will be managed by John Raben.