Edward Jones Reviews

Pros

As long as you sell and your numbers are where EJ wants them to be, you'll have freedom and everyone will tell you how great you are. great HQ support if you know how to ask the right questions.

Cons

Unless you get some assets. i.e. 10Mil plus. Your going to have a very very hard 4 years. even if your hitting goals your not making much, and the stress gets to the strongest person. After the first year ends , so does the salary. Thats when it realy get stressful. your going after 401k rollovers and small amounts of savings people have in the begining. Rollovers can take a week to over a month.
if starting from scatch or you get a small book. plan on living on 3k a month for the next 3 years.
yeh you might have a really great month but it will be followed by a terrible one.

Advice to Senior Management

3 years of salary guarentees. Stop thinkg that its OK to lose 300 advisors a month because you hired 301 that same month.

Pros

People start off at Edward Jones for the financial advisor training to get started. But the training only gets you started...

Cons

After the training and a few years in the field, you begin to realize how limited you are within the Jones business model.

Pros

Paid OTJ training, exciting environment, good people all around you. Very helpful support staff at Home Office.

Cons

Lots of hype and 'team' spirit, but the bottom line is all that matters. Don't buy the simpering phrase: 'we couldn't do it without you'. All BOA's have their FA's footprints imprinted on their backs; without the BOA, the FA's business would wither and die. However, EDJ does not support you as the law requires nor as they attest. FA's make the $$$; guess who gets the support - no matter what!

Advice to Senior Management

Shame on you - you know what you are doing and only give lip service to making changes. You're making more than ever even in this market so why would you change; it works for you!

Pros

Free time, as much as you want, but be careful

Cons

Knocking on front doors, awful! They MAKE you knock on peoples front doors and you will fumble around for a while, however if you do it, relentlessly, it does work over time

Advice to Senior Management

Give the new people something to work with. Dont just throw them to the wolves

Pros

Training and financial support very good

Cons

Limited offering of investments and services

Advice to Senior Management

Get better technology and better scope of offering

Pros

Great culture, people were helpful and welcoming.

Cons

Better pay during the training process

Pros

Because you only support one advisor, you get to know clients better. Home office is very helpful and training is thorough.

Cons

It is possible that your Financial Advisor may be difficult to work with though most are easy to get along with.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to recognize Customer Service Excellence and consider monetary rewards for these achievements. If Financial Advisor earns trip, assistants should qualify for bonus from firm.

Pros

Flexibility; open door policy; good reputation; gives back to the community; national company; fair salary; fair benefits; promotes from within.

Cons

Clickish; new management is all about the bottom line and not about the employees like it use to be. Competitive

Advice to Senior Management

The bottom line is important to any business and it is about profit, but this company use to be about employees and it is not anymore.

Pros

Profit Sharing plan, chance for bonuses, chance to receive travel rewards

Cons

Dealing with the public can be taxing at times

Advice to Senior Management

A person can start out as a branch assistant and advance to having their own branch

Pros

Benefits, investment in employees (training, etc), opportunities for professional development, privately owned, highly competent management

Cons

Sometime structure was too rigid, lack of diversity in leadership

Advice to Senior Management

Please give more than lip service to diversity and make a serious and firm committment to hiring people of different race, gender, sex, and ethicity and promote them.