Pros
During a good portion of my nine-year tenure at Edward Jones, the climate was a lot better. Even though some things seemed simplistic in its business model, initially I did not have to deal with home office pressure to present certain products. One particular (but hardly promoted) program is its PASS program, which allows brokers to work in the home office for more than a year in various departments to acquire real training and development. Instead of the traditional sales training route, I went to work in St. Louis for more than a year and it gave me more insight and time to develop my business.
Cons
The climate has changed for the worse since John Bachmann stepped down and Jim Weddle has become the managing partner. Also, there are several misleading to false statements that brokers give to recruits, and a lack of disclosure during and after the hiring process that's not fully realized until you're in the firm. The secrecy is perpetuated to the point I started looking at everything skeptically. No. 1: "You are your own boss." In reality, you are a corporate employee with some of the negative downside aspects of a sole proprietorship. You can be terminated by Edward Jones at any time. You have to pay the utilities, buy supplies from the firm, do all your marketing and advertising, etc., out of your pocket -- even though those are Edward Jones' properties and you have to get approval from Edward Jones. Moreover, you have to pay for a portion of Edward Jones' national television ads and give the firm at least 60 percent of the commissions and revenue. No. 2: "No proprietary products sold." Edward Jones is proselytizing all of its financial advisors to move clients with at least $50,000 into its Advisory Solutions program -- a proprietary product. Edward Jones is now developing a unified managed account (entry point: $500,000) -- another proprietary product. In both cases, they generate more in fee revenue for Edward Jones. Moreover, the issue is the practice Edward Jones is using -- basically, taking existing assets on the book and persuading the clients how "it is the best thing for them" when in reality it multiplies Edward Jones' revenue with the same (if not worse) performance the mutual funds many of the clients owned. No. 3: "Vacation reward trips." You need a certain amount of production and a percentage of standing to qualify. With Edward Jones' new production standards, a veteran financial advisor has to produce more than the $22,000 rolling four-month average bare minimum to get the trip. Given that the trips are offered twice per year, that means someone with at least five years' experience has to produce a minimum of $132,000 gross commissions every six months just for the right to pick a trip. Moreover, if you're not one of the bigger producers who essentially do nothing but walk in the door and qualify in the first month or two, you're scrambling to pick a decent one. Moreover, the estimated price of the trips seem excessively high (Edward Jones may say the trip costs $5,000 per person and reported that value to the IRS, but if you cash out you only get $2,000). You have to claim it on your income taxes and you get taxed at a very high rate. In addition, Edward Jones takes out a monstrous amount of money out of your paycheck during a three-month period to pay for it. No. 4: "Opportunity to become a limited partner in the firm." I worked with the company for nine years and could not get a consistent answer from a veteran broker or a home office associate on how it selects limited partners. Moreover, in order to become a limited partner you essentially have to buy into it in the form of a loan. What is not disclosed is that the general partners take the vast majority of the firm's profits. Despite being a partnership, Edward Jones has to file SEC reports because its limited and general partners are considered shareholders. If you look at the SEC reports, the vast majority of the company's $393 million in 2010 profits went to the general partners: * 347 general partners received $307.3 millon ($885,590.78 per person) * 254 subordinated limited partners — primarily retired general partners — received $41.7 million ($164,173.23 per per person) * 14,870 limited partners received $43.8 million ($2,945.53 per person) No. 5: "Good reputation in the industry." Edward Jones' high attrition rate, its poor technology and its outdated door-knocking techniques are being revealed more as it churns out brokers. The retention rate is less than 50 percent after a year and close to 25 percent after three years. Moreover, during the 2008/2009 market downturn, the managing partners started putting more pressure on its brokers to the point the culture was becoming hostile, if not toxic.