Merrill Lynch veteran Thomas Alexy is to head the group's bid to grow its wealth management operation in Australia and New Zealand.
 
Alexy, the group's new market director head of global wealth management in Australia and New Zealand, said he felt investors were missing out on international opportunities.

"Our offshore competitors here, who are really local firms, don't offer the global connectivity that we do," he said.

Merrill Lynch plans to have no more than 100 funds available on a soon-to-be developed platform, with its own research on those funds available to clients. 

The group is very close to signing an agreement to provide the technology with most of the functionality being available by the end of the financial year, Alexy said.

"Many of the parts are already done; it is the stitching together of the local agreements and developing the local platforms," he said.

"We'll keep it small and manageable, unlike a master trust that has everything. At some point we may even build our own version of a master trust, because we've built them offshore. We just haven't built them here.

"This won't be part of the next three months but could be down the track."

Merrill Lynch's global wealth management business has a staff of around 30 and it is aiming to increase that to 45 by the end of the year.

There are currently 13 advisers, which Alexy said should grow to over 20 by 2009. 

"We are not trying to be Macquarie. We intend to be profitable and have longstanding relationships, with 50 to 75 advisers being the whole team once everything is in place," he said.

Alexy has been with Merrill Lynch since 1983. He has worked in Australia previously, as well as in the company's offices in New York, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Singapore.