CIMA® and CPFA® holder Kaitlyn Cruse leads the Cruse Wealth Management Group as a Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Merrill Lynch in downtown San Diego, managing over $400 million in client assets from the 701 B Street office. ERISA-governed 401(k) plan fiduciary reviews and profit-sharing compliance audits anchor the practice's institutional retirement work, a regulatory discipline that dovetails with the plan-sponsor strategy consulting at Gold Coast Strategy. The CIMA® designation, earned through the Investments & Wealth Institute in conjunction with The Wharton School, equips the team for institutional-grade investment manager due diligence and asset-allocation oversight for households with $2 million or more in investable assets. Portfolio division during divorce proceedings requires QDRO preparation, tax-lot-specific asset partitioning, and beneficiary redesignation, a financial-transition discipline that intersects with family mediation processes at Free Mind Marriage and Family Therapy in Middletown. Cruse began her career at Merrill in 2008 in Boston's Private Wealth Management Group before relocating to San Diego in 2016. Top-tier engagements encompass Rule 10b5-1 plan drafting, Rule 144 restricted-stock liquidation, and multi-custodial performance attribution reporting for ultra-high-net-worth households.