Our History
Meridian Wealth Management was founded in 1977 with a commitment to providing trusted financial advice and exceeding client expectations. With deep roots in Jackson, MI, Meridian Wealth Management symbolized the principle of guidance and precision that we have upheld from the beginning.
In the mid-1970s, the regional firm Watling, Lerchen & Co., Inc. operated branches throughout Michigan for over 60 years, with the Jackson office located at the Hayes Hotel. In 1977, Watling, Lerchen was acquired by A.G. Edwards and Sons, Inc. Two consultants, Jim Grace and Tom Draper, joined A.G. Edwards, and the office grew significantly, eventually relocating to the Fields Building in downtown Jackson in 1994.
In 2007, A.G. Edwards & Sons was purchased by Wachovia Corporation and merged with Wachovia Securities. Two years later, Wachovia was acquired by Wells Fargo & Co., making the Jackson office part of Wells Fargo Advisors. In 2019, the Jackson office transitioned to an independent platform supported by Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, becoming today’s Meridian Wealth Management of Michigan, still in the Fields Building. In August 2024, we transitioned to Meridian Wealth Management in partnership with &Partners, LLC a firm that aligns with our goal of aligning our clients’ interests and backed by the support of Fidelity. In partnership, we believe we can change financial lives for the better through more personalized guidance and tailored investment solutions.
Our financial consultant team includes Brad Clark, who became manager in 2006, Karen Barnes, John Stewart, and the Grace Group: Jamie Grace, Robyn Dirlam, Frank Lusebrink, Gabe Davis, and Danielle Peters. Client Associates Jennifer Krumm, Barbara Lee and Amberlee Swift enhance our client experience.
Our Commitment
We provide value to our clients with holistic advice and planning, emphasizing a caring and client-first approach. We strive to offer the highest level of investment planning and service, consistently exceeding client expectations through our guiding principles of courteous, prompt, and professional service.
Our Core Values
Community, Integrity, Knowledge, Legacy, and Trust.
These values guide every strategy we develop and every relationship we build, helping to ensure that we treat every client like family, respecting their aspirations and their achievements.
The &Partners Advantage
We are proudly partnered with &Partners, a wealth management firm with industry-leading technology, a flexible investment platform and premium service for the sole purpose of helping you realize your financial goals. &Partners is built on the premise that every client has a unique story and distinct financial needs—from wealth building to legacy planning.
&Partners is a dually registered Broker-Dealer and Investment Advisor. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ampersand Partners, LLC. The management team of &Partners is a team of seasoned professionals with a long tenure in the advisory services and wealth and asset management industries. &Partners provides:
- A shared philosophical alignment to put your needs at the forefront of everything we do
- Broker-dealer platform from which we deliver services and abide by standard regulatory requirements
- A robust investment and banking platform, including safekeeping services by industry giants like Fidelity
- Strong operational platform to support our work with you from transitioning assets to traditional transactional needs and reporting on through to compliance
- An experienced, on-call investment team to support the growing needs of our clients to customize their solutions
Prioritizing Your Needs
Through our affiliation with &Partners, we share in the alignment to prioritize client needs and help secure a freedom of ownership that allows us to bring our best to you – unbiased. The &Partners team provides a robust, stable platform across investing, planning, compliance, and technology to support our business. An additional bonus is that the &Partners team of seasoned professionals, such as concierge investment team, are available and accessible to help enhance our insights and our responsiveness.
Fidelity
Your money and investments are safely held at Fidelity’s NFS*, one of the industry’s leading providers of safeguarding assets and investments (custody of assets). Meridian Wealth Management, &Partners, and Fidelity all work together to help meet our fiduciary obligations, safekeep your assets and enable excellent service.
Investment and trading platform
- Investing
- Trading
- Reporting & Custody
Concierge services
- Investment and portfolio strategies
- Financial planning
Business support services
- Compliance
- Operations
- Service support
- Marketing
Technology platform
- Business technology
- FinTech solutions (planning, tax, other tools)
*Fidelity Investments (Fidelity) through its broker-dealer National Financial Services LLC (NFS) is our primary custodian where your assets are held for safekeeping
