Robert East joins Merrill Lynch to lead Central Coast ops
Merrill Lynch has named Robert East as its senior market executive for the Valley Coast market, according to an Aug. 8 press release. East leads a team of 105 financial advisors across seven wealth management offices from San Luis Obispo south to Encino. He oversees approximately $26 billion in assets under management for local Merrill clients, according to the report.
East brings more than 30 years of finance and wealth management experience to the role, having joined Merrill in 2015 and running the firm’s Westlake offices in 2018 to 2019 before being promoted to San Francisco market executive for Merrill. Before working at Merrill, he was a financial advisor, national training officer, branch manager and complex director at Smith Barney and was also a director at UBS. He began his career in 1995 at Coopers & Lybrand.
East kept his home in the Conejo Valley, where he volunteered as athletic director for youth football programs in Agoura and Oak Park. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in economics, according to the report.
