Do you know Edward Jones?
October 19, 2014 12:32 AM Subscribe
I am in the process of hiring on with Edward Jones and I'd like to hear from you.
I have been to the Meet & Greet session and met some great people with a lot to say (about all aspects of the job) from both new advisers and old. I understand my job duties for the first 1-3 years and also how I will move from salary to commission.
I feel like I got a lot of good information from them (and other resources) however I still get a tiny hint that they aren't telling me something.
I am actively being hired and am close to pulling the trigger, but I would like to ask the hive about their experiences whether as a client, adviser, competitor, or ??
Thank You.
domo.kun.raar@gmail.com (throwaway)
I have been to the Meet & Greet session and met some great people with a lot to say (about all aspects of the job) from both new advisers and old. I understand my job duties for the first 1-3 years and also how I will move from salary to commission.
I feel like I got a lot of good information from them (and other resources) however I still get a tiny hint that they aren't telling me something.
I am actively being hired and am close to pulling the trigger, but I would like to ask the hive about their experiences whether as a client, adviser, competitor, or ??
Thank You.
domo.kun.raar@gmail.com (throwaway)
I don't know Edward Jones, but glassdoor.com has reviews of companies by employees and there are quite a few reviews of Edward Jones up there. You do have to sign up for an account to get access to more than a few reviews, but the spamage seems pretty low.
posted by elmay at 5:53 AM on October 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by elmay at 5:53 AM on October 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
In all my time reading about personal finance and making investment decisions, I have never been steered wrong by the Bogleheads forum, a group of savvy and thrifty individuals willing to help the uninformed investor. They are Do-It-Yourself-ers and very concerned about costs so kind of the opposite of the high-priced broker, but from a client perspective, they do not look kindly on Edward Jones.
posted by Durin's Bane at 6:32 AM on October 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Durin's Bane at 6:32 AM on October 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
Do you have a source of clients?
This is literally the only question that matters. Ed Jones is a brokerage firm, they pay by commission (with a short-term salary to transition you). If you don't have clients, and a method of getting new ones YOU WILL STARVE. Unless you know LOTS of people who will give you business, you'll find yourself dialing for dollars, which is an absolutely awful way to spend your days. You'll be competing with everyone else in that room. They have a shitload of advisors. Ed Jones guys will literally go door-to-door introducing themselves and asking for business.
In a previous life, I started with a class of about 30 new advisors at a bulge bracket firm. By the end of two years there were 2 left. Me, because I persuaded my way into an existing successful team, and another guy who was relentless at cold-calling. I went to law school. He's still there. Probably still does less than 200k.
Most people fail at this, and not from lack of hard work. When you leave, your 'mentor' will take your clients, and make that commission going forward. Brokerage firms love new meat. They work hard, generate new clients, then get fired or leave from lack of production.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:08 AM on October 19, 2014 [5 favorites]
This is literally the only question that matters. Ed Jones is a brokerage firm, they pay by commission (with a short-term salary to transition you). If you don't have clients, and a method of getting new ones YOU WILL STARVE. Unless you know LOTS of people who will give you business, you'll find yourself dialing for dollars, which is an absolutely awful way to spend your days. You'll be competing with everyone else in that room. They have a shitload of advisors. Ed Jones guys will literally go door-to-door introducing themselves and asking for business.
In a previous life, I started with a class of about 30 new advisors at a bulge bracket firm. By the end of two years there were 2 left. Me, because I persuaded my way into an existing successful team, and another guy who was relentless at cold-calling. I went to law school. He's still there. Probably still does less than 200k.
Most people fail at this, and not from lack of hard work. When you leave, your 'mentor' will take your clients, and make that commission going forward. Brokerage firms love new meat. They work hard, generate new clients, then get fired or leave from lack of production.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:08 AM on October 19, 2014 [5 favorites]
I think of Edward Jones as the sort of predatory retail investment management that investors should be strongly warned away form. Their customer fees are very high: 2% for reinvestments and high front end loads on mutual funds. They also collect commissions on the products they encourage their customers to buy, a hopelessly conflicted business. Back in 2004 they had to settle with SEC for not even disclosing the payments they were taking.
You should ask yourself if you believe in this business model and will feel good selling these kinds of products to investors. If you don't like the idea, consider applying your talents as a fee-only advisor or some alternative arrangement like Vanguard or Wealthfront.
posted by Nelson at 7:54 AM on October 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
You should ask yourself if you believe in this business model and will feel good selling these kinds of products to investors. If you don't like the idea, consider applying your talents as a fee-only advisor or some alternative arrangement like Vanguard or Wealthfront.
posted by Nelson at 7:54 AM on October 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
The commission structure would make me nervous, personally, but YMMV. I'm in the wealth management business, but rarely come across EJ. That makes me think it's a smaller net worth type of client (I'm in the UHNW area), which means the sales process has more emphasis on high volume and low service. I could totally be wrong, though, so read those employee reviews.
posted by jpe at 7:56 AM on October 19, 2014
posted by jpe at 7:56 AM on October 19, 2014
I don't know anything about EDJ from the brokerage point of view, but I have a number of friends from college who have worked there for several years in IT and seem to be very happy with them as an employer. </anecdata>
posted by jferg at 8:06 AM on October 19, 2014
posted by jferg at 8:06 AM on October 19, 2014
couple of visits ago, my long-time haircutter started sporting some guy's edward jones biz card in the lower corner of the mirror her clients look into while being shorn, and i asked her about it. it turned out to be her son...
"the engineer? he became a stockbroker?"
"yes." she added that he hated it and was desperately scrounging for clients, enough to try getting his mom to invest with him. he was doing cold calls door-to-door, and one guy threatened to shoot him. "well yes, if a stranger showed up on my doorstep to sell me stocks and wouldn't leave when i requested, i would threaten to shoot him too. why's he doing this?"
"his wife thinks it's more prestigious than engineering."
"he should obviously divorce the wife and go back to engineering."
"that's what i've been telling him."
on an earlier occasion, i went into an edward jones and asked if they permitted clients to trade online in their accounts. the woman said "no, all the trades are done through us."
"GOOD DAY, MA'AM!"
posted by bruce at 8:10 AM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
"the engineer? he became a stockbroker?"
"yes." she added that he hated it and was desperately scrounging for clients, enough to try getting his mom to invest with him. he was doing cold calls door-to-door, and one guy threatened to shoot him. "well yes, if a stranger showed up on my doorstep to sell me stocks and wouldn't leave when i requested, i would threaten to shoot him too. why's he doing this?"
"his wife thinks it's more prestigious than engineering."
"he should obviously divorce the wife and go back to engineering."
"that's what i've been telling him."
on an earlier occasion, i went into an edward jones and asked if they permitted clients to trade online in their accounts. the woman said "no, all the trades are done through us."
"GOOD DAY, MA'AM!"
posted by bruce at 8:10 AM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Run. Run as fast as you can. Edward Jones only purpose is to transfer as much money as possible from your pocket to their pockets. They will pretend to be your friend. They are not your friend. They look on you as a mark to be conned.
posted by JackFlash at 11:05 AM on October 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by JackFlash at 11:05 AM on October 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
Edward Jones. Brokers with a minimal knowledge of the financial markets. Cold calling and begging for clients. Selling things to unwitting unsavvy ignorant customers who really don't know any better and thus end up paying way too much for products that likely don't even really benefit them.
Worst of the worst.
posted by thegoldfish at 8:12 PM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Worst of the worst.
posted by thegoldfish at 8:12 PM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
OP here. I asked for an anonymous question but I feel that it is worth losing anonymity in order to ask follow-up questions.
After reading every link thoroughly I have come to a much more enlightened state of mind on Edward Jones. While there is an almost equal divide in opinion about the firm, the negatives say some very specific things that have me really questioning my future if I go with them.
I do have an application in with Vanguard, however they seem to really want an MBA.
If Edward Jones is truly the worst who, then, do you trust for financial advising?
posted by MansRiot at 8:33 AM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
After reading every link thoroughly I have come to a much more enlightened state of mind on Edward Jones. While there is an almost equal divide in opinion about the firm, the negatives say some very specific things that have me really questioning my future if I go with them.
I do have an application in with Vanguard, however they seem to really want an MBA.
If Edward Jones is truly the worst who, then, do you trust for financial advising?
posted by MansRiot at 8:33 AM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hey, glad our answers were helpful!
When friends ask me how to find financial advisors I steer them to fee-only advisors. It can still be expensive, but at least the financial relationships are transparent and you're not worried the advisor is recommending crap to the client because it pays a high commission. It's better if the fee is an hourly rate or a percentage of assets under management, so the advisor has no incentive to encourage the client to make frequent trades. The problem with the fee-only advisor business is it's not as lucrative for the advisor. But then again, the advisor isn't cheating the client.
Vanguard has a small financial advisor offering. It's not a big part of their business, but there's a lot of folks with $300,000 of retirement money and no idea which mutual fund to pick. Your comment about the MBA requirement at Vanguard makes me wonder what kind of job you're applying for; I'd have thought you'd say CFP.
posted by Nelson at 9:16 AM on October 20, 2014
When friends ask me how to find financial advisors I steer them to fee-only advisors. It can still be expensive, but at least the financial relationships are transparent and you're not worried the advisor is recommending crap to the client because it pays a high commission. It's better if the fee is an hourly rate or a percentage of assets under management, so the advisor has no incentive to encourage the client to make frequent trades. The problem with the fee-only advisor business is it's not as lucrative for the advisor. But then again, the advisor isn't cheating the client.
Vanguard has a small financial advisor offering. It's not a big part of their business, but there's a lot of folks with $300,000 of retirement money and no idea which mutual fund to pick. Your comment about the MBA requirement at Vanguard makes me wonder what kind of job you're applying for; I'd have thought you'd say CFP.
posted by Nelson at 9:16 AM on October 20, 2014
Thanks for that and perhaps I was focusing too much on the MBA level position with Vanguard.
It is my understanding that the I would need to have to have a few years of financial advising experience before being eligible for the CFP.
posted by MansRiot at 9:26 AM on October 20, 2014
It is my understanding that the I would need to have to have a few years of financial advising experience before being eligible for the CFP.
posted by MansRiot at 9:26 AM on October 20, 2014
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My cousin is an Edward Jones broker/owner (not sure the right term) and absolutely loves it. Gets great support from corporate, fantastic training, and really enjoys the work and the way they go about the work (small local office, buying and holding for long-term wealth, etc.).
I looked at the job when I was getting out of college, and didn't find anything that concerned me, although I went in a different career direction.
My company works with Edward Jones today (we provide a service they buy). I haven't been intimately involved, but have been on a few calls with them, and everyone I've interacted with has been really nice and professional. My colleagues who work more closely with them say the same thing.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:09 AM on October 19, 2014