John W. Gustafson

Beacon Trust Co. is a full-service wealth management firm headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey. The firm was founded in 1988 and is a subsidiary of Provident Bank, which is owned by Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: PFS). Beacon Trust provides a comprehensive service such as investment advisory, financial planning, tax compliance and planning, trust and estate administration, and banking services through Provident Bank, the parent company of Beacon Trust.

In 1915 Charles Edward Merrill founded Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) with Edmund C. Lynch in Baltimore, Maryland. The modern Merrill Lynch was formed in 1940 through mergers with E.A. Pierce & Cassatt and, soon after, Fenner & Beane. In 1973, Merrill Lynch adopted a holding company format, with Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. as the parent and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith as the operating subsidiary. Merrill Lynch Asset Management, Inc. (MLAM) was created as an integral business unit in the Merrill Lynch family in 1976. Fund Asset Management, doing business as Mercury Asset Management, was acquired in December 1997. In 2000, MLAM and Mercury were combined under the name Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. MLAM manages the Merrill Lynch family of mutual funds, as and acts as sub-advisor to other mutual funds.