Paul Lambert

Paul Lambert is a Managing Director and the Head of Strategy and Business Development at Bates Group. A 30-year financial services veteran at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Paul was most recently President of Bank of America, Chicago Market and Merrill Lynch Division Executive spanning 14 midwestern states with 2,500 advisors across 110 offices. In those positions, Paul successfully shaped strategy, served clients across the entire company, improved revenue and financial performance, fostered a well-supervised business that prided itself on strong compliance, and drove record employee engagement.

Previous roles for Paul included Regional Managing Director leading the firm’s ultra-high net worth business in the Midwest and Director of the Merrill Lynch New York Capital Complex based in Albany, New York where he earned special recognition as one of the Capital Region’s “Best Places to Work” in 2005 and 2006, as well as the 2007 Capital Region Human Resources Association “Spectrum Award” for promoting diversity and inclusiveness in the workplace. Paul also held many national strategy, leadership, and coaching roles.

Paul joined Merrill Lynch in 1992 as a Financial Advisor in the Rochester, New York office where he founded and grew a wealth management business to a team of six associates working with more than 400 HNW clients and $200 million plus in assets. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Science/Finance from SUNY Geneseo as well as Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) and Chartered Retirement Planning Consultant (CRPC) designations. He maintains Series 3, 7, 8, 31, 63, and 65 licenses.

Outside of work, he has served on the Board of Trustees for the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Community Trust, Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and Albany Medical Center. He also helped develop and launch We Rise Together, an initiative to promote an equitable and just recovery post-pandemic.

Paul’s top areas of expertise include:

• Branch Management – Held Sales Manager, Resident Director, Market Executive, Regional Managing Director as well as Division Executive positions. Hired and developed more than 60 managers across all roles.  
• Investment Management – Built and led a successful wealth management team. Partnered to create Optimal Practice Model as best practice for all advisors across the company. Maintains CIMA and CRPC designations.
• Duties / Responsibilities – National leadership assessor and coach. Partnered with HR to create new Leader in Development Program, as well as, first 90-Day focused training for all new Market Executives. Strong emphasis on Compliance and Supervision.
• WM Delivery – Stakeholder in evolution of goals-based planning at Merrill. Led field strategy and execution to integrate banking services with wealth management post-BAC’s purchase of Merrill.
• Recruiting – Personally recruited more than 100 established advisors to Merrill. Deep experience across entire end-to-end process, including protocol and non-protocol hires.
• Complaint Resolution – Decades of experience handling client complaints, employee matters, office issues.  Strong partnership with Legal, Risk and Compliance to protect our clients and business.