We have developed a winning strategy. It is true that there are many who profess to be financial planners. With a broad array of resources and the ability to serve clients, we are in a position to implement this strategy successfully today and in the marketplace of the future. Merrill Lynch is a global, integrated, financial services company with the products and services, the technology, the vision, the responsiveness and distribution capability to sense and meet the changing financial needs of our clients and potential clients. We believe that we have what any serious competitor today must have to excel in this market.
All competitors face the challenge of delivering value to a better educated consumer.
Today and in the decade ahead, we believe what clients really need is wisdom. And to provide wisdom, you must have the ability to take information and create leverage based on the unique needs and profiles of individual clients and figure out what to do with it. We believe that none of us can create value simply through products, because no sooner do you invent a new product than someone else clones it, reproduces it within six months. We also believe that it is no longer possible to create value with information, because everyone has it. However, even though information is there for the taking, most clients do not have the time or the inclination or the skill to sift through it all and make sense of it.