Kinder, Gentler JONES?
I was just made aware that Edward Jones is allowing a departing Financial Advisor the opportunity to tell the Edward Jones Clients' where they have gone! Jones will include the contact information of the departing Financial Advisor in the letter they send to the client. WOW!
Be careful, I think they are veiling this as a way to keep the privacy of their clients in tact!Ohhh, those evil demons!
They should be including the ACAT forms in the letter as well.
You can send a tombstone letter yourself but I don’t think that Jones will send them anything that tells them where you have gone.
You are correct. I have seen it for myself! I left EJ last year and they are on their third broker in my office. Ironically I get a letter everytime the broker fails and leaves. My last letter stated the firm that the broker went too, but no contact information. I have been told that they will publish contact information if you give it to them.
Jones will only send the information if the departing FA gives it to them. Weddle mentioned this newly adopted practice in a suggbox response recently. So noggin, if you gave Jones your new contact info, they can send your old clients a letter telling them where you’ve gone.
When I left, my Regional Leader told me where to go!
I told my RL where to go…
Spiff,
What was the company line on Jones part to let clients know where the new FA moved to?When I left…I told the WSJ where to go…to find info. on Revenue Sharing at EJ.
Thanks again, without that we would still have Doug instead of Jim.When I left…I told the WSJ where to go…to find info. on Revenue Sharing at EJ.
Thanks again, without that we would still have Doug instead of Jim.[/quote] Wow, great point! Thanks UWEC![quote=uwec1986]When I left…I told the WSJ where to go…to find info. on Revenue Sharing at EJ.
The pleasure was all mine.
Spiff,
I'd still like to hear why EJ is letting the clients know where the FA went. Is there some new FINRA rule that requires it?I'm paraphrasing here, but the "company line" on how they handle an FA leaving is that they do everything they can to protect client confidentiality and privacy. They won't share information with any outside sources, including the departing FA. They will send a letter, typically the same day the FA leaves, that tells the clients who will be taking over their accounts, and also the new firm, address, and phone number if the FA has given it to Jones. They also send something called the NYSE Informed Investor memo.
It all boils down to a privacy and confidentiality issue first. Second comes the retention of assets. As far as it being a FINRA rule, I'm gonna guess no. FINRA would be more pissed if we printed a list of clients for the departing FA and mailed them to him. My guess is that someone, somewhere decided to do some CYA and start including the FA's new info. Possibly thinking someone could sue Jones for some reason. Who knows.It doesn’t really matter. But I am certain (like any company) that it is not just out of the goodness of their heart. I’ve noticed Jones is starting to get a bit wiser under the new regime, and starting to go with the industry flow a bit more.
Its hard to sell yourself if you look so much different than the others…
God, please lets not have this conversation again..
B24 - ever seen Groundhog Day? That’s what it feels like around here sometimes.
[quote=Spaceman Spiff]
I'm paraphrasing here, but the "company line" on how they handle an FA leaving is that they do everything they can to protect client confidentiality and privacy. They won't share information with any outside sources, including the departing FA. They will send a letter, typically the same day the FA leaves, that tells the clients who will be taking over their accounts, and also the new firm, address, and phone number if the FA has given it to Jones. They also send something called the NYSE Informed Investor memo.
It all boils down to a privacy and confidentiality issue first. Second comes the retention of assets. As far as it being a FINRA rule, I'm gonna guess no. FINRA would be more pissed if we printed a list of clients for the departing FA and mailed them to him. My guess is that someone, somewhere decided to do some CYA and start including the FA's new info. Possibly thinking someone could sue Jones for some reason. Who knows. [/quote] The issue was this: Several smart attorneys started advising departing Jones brokers to leave very detailed information as to how to be contacted in their next life within their resignation letter. You would also leave a very detailed copy of the same information on the BOA and FA desk in the office. If clients called and got the new guy and then asked, "Where's the real broker?", then the new guy has to tell them the truth. In many cases (you may be shocked to know), the new guy would give the client some BS about, "We have no idea where he went or where he's working. He just cleaned out all of his things in the middle of the night--very wierd. No two week notice or anything. Are you really sure that you want such an unpredictable and unreliable person watching your money? You know, you're safe here with me at Edward Jones. BTW, I noticed you have some very lazy cash in your account, and we have this excellent 5.75% 30-year Verizon bond available today........" The new broker will leave out the fact that the bond has been laying around in inventory for 6 to 8 weeks and that Verizon is on credit downgrade watch--however it's paying 3% YTB! Later, when the real broker would catch up with the client, the client may repeat this experience as to what happened when they called the office. If you can get the client to give a sworn statement that they inquired as to your whereabouts, Jones had the information and then failed to give it out, they are in a world of shit going forward. No chance for TRO, and if things get really nasty, then the non-solicitation and non-compete clauses might also be voided by a court. For all of you thinking about leaving, always leave your new contact info.EDJ sucks. End of story. There is no way they are going to honor telling the clients where they went. It’s a farce. They are a very bad company with very sucky people running it. Sorry spacey. Your company sucks. You were pass program for a reason. You couldn’t make it without having a handout. Again—end of story. It feels good to be a pompous prick! Thank you for calling me that. You made some friends here on this site, but not me. Never. I think I only like Ms. Jones and B24 too. You want to be a GP. Hope that goes well for you----suckuhhh. You are WAY out there—no clarity at all.
I'm sad that you don't want to be my friend. I think I'll lose some sleep over that tonight. Pass program? Really? You think you know so much about me. Just tells me that you think you are much smarter than you really are. As far as the issue on telling clients where the Jones FA went, I don't really care what they do. As far as I'm concerned, once you leave your keys on your BOAs desk, Jones' obligation to you stops there. Other than to tell your old clients that you left, here's the new guy I don't think there needs to be ANY communication about the where you went. But the people at HQ must be way more bad than I am. Besides the payout, products, and perceived freedom issues, what else do I need clarity about with Jones? If you can teach me something that would convince me to leave Jones I'd appreciate it.EDJ sucks. End of story. There is no way they are going to honor telling the clients where they went. It’s a farce. They are a very bad company with very sucky people running it. Sorry spacey. Your company sucks. You were pass program for a reason. You couldn’t make it without having a handout. Again—end of story. It feels good to be a pompous prick! Thank you for calling me that. You made some friends here on this site, but not me. Never. I think I only like Ms. Jones and B24 too. You want to be a GP. Hope that goes well for you----suckuhhh. You are WAY out there—no clarity at all.
I’ve been a relatively silent observer of the pungent distaste for EDJ on here. I must ask where all this animosity comes from. Did this company come after you in your sleep? Did they threaten your children? Egg your house? Hit on your sister? This isn’t complete sarcasm; I truly want to know what is so allegedly awful that does not exist elsewhere. I imagine the only truly credible objections come from former or current employees. Did everyone on this board who makes these comments at one time work for EDJ? Because I doubt it.
I am very new. But I have spent 4 boring months studying about how regulated this industry is and can’t imagine that the intense scrutiny and oversight from regulators leaves much room for any company to operate any more unethically than the rest of the industry; whether they intend to or not.
People say EDJ sucks…how about an informed and educated reason. I could say the Atlanta Falcons suck all day long, but is that credible solely on the fact that I am a Saints fan? I just feel that sometimes this is more of a ‘sports’ forum than a professional one.
NOLA,
Good observation...in my opinion, the people on this board who raise facts and mention shortcomings of EDJ (as few as there may be IMHO), at least are just stating there opinions and usually add in there comments that while they feel this way, there are some people who feel differently and whom EDJ is a great place to be. With that being said, I feel that the morons who so eloquently say "EDJ Sucks" most likely are bitter ex-employees who failed there or had a bad experience with individual RL's and for that reason want to bash the company as a whole. Quite honestly, and i'm a Jones guy, I love it here, however, I do realize there are shortcomings in some areas that I feel are being addressed. I also think there are great advantages to being here, particularly if you are surrounded by the right people in your region! Fortunately, there are only 2 or 3 idiots who constantly bash Jones without much relevant backup info. Much of their rhetoric is based on faulty info and is an obvious attempt to sway people from joining or remaining under thier employment. It does make for some interesting bantar but it is basically a bunch of B.S.Donatello, Hey I’m a ex Jones Guy now Indy > year–but we really don’t have to make personal attacks against Spiff or the rest of the folks–you really need to get that prostate checked! Spiff and B24 will be indy one day–I would bet my career on it–that being said–everyone has to find their time.
That being said--I wish my kids would drink soda or something besides koolaid!NOLA - I don’t think they are inferring that Jones operates an unethical business in regards to the clients we work with. I believe that they are typically referring to the differences between the way an indy firm treats it’s advisors and the way Jones does. There IS a difference in payout. There IS a difference in product choice. There IS an advantage to being an employer vs employee. IF you are so inclined you can absolutely make more money running an indy shop vs an EDJ, ML, UBS, MS, or Smith Barney office of identical proportions.
Not all of the people who make those comments worked for Jones. The majority of them did. The ones who are incredibly vocal about it, like our TMNT friend, probably feel they got shafted somehow during their time at Jones. Whether it was because they got terminated, passed over for LP, RL pissed them off or whatever, they have something buried deep inside that helps them keep up the Jones Sucks rhetoric they often foust upon us. Like a divorced guy who's wife slept with the pool boy, they keep replaying that event in their mind everytime they log on here. I don't tend to say things like EDJ is the best place to work ever and everyplace else sucks. It's a great place for me. It's not the best place for everyone. You might not want anyone telling you what color the carpet in your office is going to be. Or what computer software you are going to run. Or what products you can't offer. If that's the case, go indy. Make those decisions on your own. You'll be financially and emotionally rewarded for it. If you don't really care what color the carpet is, or what software you run, or what products you can't offer, then you will probably be very happy with Jones or ML or UBS. It's probaly not worth the little bit of money (or big sums of money) for the extra headaches or hassles of DIY. I don't really care what donatello thinks about me. Just like I don't care what spears thinks about me. I traded enough jabs with spears to think we'd probably get along pretty well with each other in real life. However, me and the TMNT, sorry Italian Renaissance artist...not so much.It’s probaly not worth the little bit of money (or big sums of money) for the extra headaches or hassles of DIY.
Spiff- The extra headaches you refer to are there, but they are more than mitigated by increase in payout. If you knew the difference (i.e. , been there and experienced it) you would not make a sensless statement like the one above. It is very much worth the extra effort. Imagine me saying to a prospect, I know you will do 20% better in this fund, but its harder to understand, and it takes more work, but the results are what they are.... I would be tired of constantly defending the mother ship on these forums, but I give you props for trying.[quote=footsoldier]It’s probaly not worth the little bit of money (or big sums of money) for the extra headaches or hassles of DIY.
Spiff- The extra headaches you refer to are there, but they are more than mitigated by increase in payout. If you knew the difference (i.e. , been there and experienced it) you would not make a sensless statement like the one above. It is very much worth the extra effort. Imagine me saying to a prospect, I know you will do 20% better in this fund, but its harder to understand, and it takes more work, but the results are what they are.... I would be tired of constantly defending the mother ship on these forums, but I give you props for trying.[/quote] It's all relative, it depends how much the extra money means to you. If a Broker at Jones is already making 250k/year and that satisfies them, then the extra headaches etc...isn't worth it. (just an example...any $$ amt. fits)The Atlanta Falcons may suck, but their suckage has no real effect on your personal life......unless you are betting on them. Have you ever been in a bad marriage or relationship? One where your partner, beloved spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend turns out have deceived you and tricked you into the relationship? One where you are now so committed or so deep into the relationship that you can't gracefully back out? One where your partner turned out to not be the person you thought that they were and you find out that they are just using you with no real regard for your feelings or well being? One where you realize that only one of you is benefiting from the relationship and it ISN'T you. One where your partner is possibly even cheating on you by using your hard earned income to advance their newest love interest. The only way out is to admit you have been made a fool of and try to sever the relationship with as little pain as possible. Sure, the divorce is ugly. But even more ugly is remaining in a one sided relationship that does you nothing but harm mentally, emotionally and even physically with all the stress of dealing with the deception. Hopefully you don't damage the children (clients) in the process of separation but then you realize that you are the only one in the relationship that actually cares about the children as individuals, while your partner just looks upon them as a means to an end. The death of a relationship has several stages (in no particular order). Anger at the other, anger at yourself, depression, sorrow for what could have been, eventual acceptance of the ending of the marriage and finally moving on and realizing that there is a better life out there once you have gotten out of the unhealthy relationship.I’ve been a relatively silent observer of the pungent distaste for EDJ on here. I must ask where all this animosity comes from. Did this company come after you in your sleep? Did they threaten your children? Egg your house? Hit on your sister? This isn’t complete sarcasm; I truly want to know what is so allegedly awful that does not exist elsewhere. I imagine the only truly credible objections come from former or current employees. Did everyone on this board who makes these comments at one time work for EDJ? Because I doubt it.
I am very new. But I have spent 4 boring months studying about how regulated this industry is and can’t imagine that the intense scrutiny and oversight from regulators leaves much room for any company to operate any more unethically than the rest of the industry; whether they intend to or not.
People say EDJ sucks…how about an informed and educated reason. I could say the Atlanta Falcons suck all day long, but is that credible solely on the fact that I am a Saints fan? I just feel that sometimes this is more of a ‘sports’ forum than a professional one.
[quote=Spaceman Spiff]
It’s probaly not worth the little bit of money (or big sums of money) for the extra headaches or hassles of DIY. [/quote]Sorry to pile on Spiff, but the time spent with DIY issues of owning/running the business are easily offset by the time saved that used to be spent attending meetings, training sessions, and other "group" functions. Additionally I now have all of the time that used to be spent trying to appease a RL and/or others listen to/talk about everyone else in the region. Besides that, no time is spent trying to convince someone in STL why something makes sense or wait for their approval.
I am being completely serious when I say I had no idea how much of my time at Jones was spent on all of this. Even if you are "on an island" at Jones you still have quite a bit of the above. I know several that consider themselves "removed" from it all. They don't even realize what they are dealing with because they've done it for so long.
[quote=CIBforeveryone]
[quote=Spaceman Spiff]
[/quote]Sorry to pile on Spiff, but the time spent with DIY issues of owning/running the business are easily offset by the time saved that used to be spent attending meetings, training sessions, and other “group” functions. Additionally I now have all of the time that used to be spent trying to appease a RL and/or others listen to/talk about everyone else in the region. Besides that, no time is spent trying to convince someone in STL why something makes sense or wait for their approval. I am being completely serious when I say I had no idea how much of my time at Jones was spent on all of this. Even if you are “on an island” at Jones you still have quite a bit of the above. I know several that consider themselves “removed” from it all. They don’t even realize what they are dealing with because they’ve done it for so long.[/quote]
Is this stuff never encountered by brokers at ML, MS, SB, UBS, et al?
The difference is that they expect it at those wires. At Jones you think you are “independent” because you are on your own. In many ways that is true, but those that leave to go Indy realize how non-independent they were. That’s probably why the passion runs so high.
Newsflash - Jones is a kissing cousin to a wirehouse. The big difference is in the structure of our office setup. So, whatever you would expect out of a wirehouse as far as meetings and butt kissing to get ahead, you should expect from Jones. It's the same thing!!
You folks make it sound like I think you are stupid for leaving Jones. That couldn't be farther from the truth. I think you are stupid for many different other reasons. I give you folks a lot of credit for finding fault with your situation and trying to make it better. But don't fault me for believing that for some people the extra duties involved in running an indy office aren't worth the extra money. In your mind that may sound crazy, but there are hundreds of top producers at a lot of different brokerage houses that think the same way I do.Is Jones ever going to include cost basis when they transfer an account out? I believe they are about the only firm left that refuses to do this. Kinder, gentler Jones? I think not.
Newsflash - Jones is a kissing cousin to a wirehouse.
Spiff- Without a doubt the dumbest comment you have ever made on these forums.Why?
Huh, I quit LPL because I didn’t want to shell out 75k for training.
Just trade at home now.
Guess how many Jones FAs could do that?
They understand trails and, well I guess just trails.
The market would confuse them.
Wake Up to the Do Not Call List. A broker (oops I’m sorry Financial Advisor) just jumped ship in DFW. Good friend of mine. Jones sent the letters. He is pulling as much of his book as possible. Complaints have now gone in that he is violating the do not call list as they are EDJ customers and he is not an EDJ employee. How odd that the clients that he has built such a good tenured relationship with are being asked to join the OIT guys and the new broker in conferencing complaint calls and signing off on form letters.
Jones - the nicer/gentler company? No, they just use KY now and leave a $20 on the nightstand.
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