Home Office does not back up the BOA's when problems occur between BOA and FA
Pros
If you happen to work for a nice FA that you can get along with and they are willing to reward your good performance with sharing their bonuses, it can be a very good job.
Cons
If you end up with an FA that is not a nice person - be careful. I worked for Ed Jones for five years - 2 1/2 years with a great guy who ended up leaving the firm to work for another company. I transferred to another new FA. At first things were good and he was eager to begin earning larger commissions so that he could share his bonus with me. I got a couple of mediocre bonuses and was looking forward to more and more as time went on. I worked very hard to do my job and establish our branch and deal with clients to build "our business." Home office pushes this "team" scenario. Supposedly you and your FA are a "branch team" and you are expected to help the FA figure out how to market the branch and bring in more clients/money. This all making $12 an hour. You do it because you are promised the reward of bonuses when the FA becomes profitable. All of a sudden, my FA began making up things about my performance and making a big deal out of any small error that occurred. I found plenty of mistakes made by the FA, I might add. He reported me to home office after he spoke to me in an unprofessional manner (yelled at me) and made complaints that the HR person said were very minor and for me not to worry. It just got worse, I was miserable every day and began having health problems. I quit after the FA downgraded my performance rating from the top rating to the lowest rating. That meant I would get practically zero bonus. After I quit, the HR person I had been talking to (who acted like she was a friend who cared) screwed me over and I did not get my bonus that I was supposed to get. I now have a good job closer to home and am happy to have left that horrible situation. Good riddance!