No longer at Edward Jones, looking into options
68 RepliesJump to last post
How did you rent your own space at Jones? Offices have to be registered and as far as I know, Jones doesn’t register offices besides your house and your permanent office? You may be the only person in the history of Jones (definitely my 10+ year history) to rent a space like that before you get your own office. Maybe things have changed for noobs over the past few years, but I didn’t think that was even possible. Did you tell Jones that you rented it, or did you just break a lot of securities laws and do what you wanted?
He told a prospect he worked for ML after Jones fired him… what do you think? The guy is a first rate piker. Opened less than 6 accounts. Blames field trainers, lack of metors, no office, etc. etc. You’d think after alllllll those years in a previous job you’d have enough friends to open a few accounts. Nope, he’s a liar.
Thanks for the feedback - Maybe I’m just no good…
But I will say this:
1. I was interviewing with ML when I wrote that. I got an offer, but decided not to take it.
2. I had access to a Jones office for client meetings, but there were no offices with space for a Legacy; or even a frequent visitor - I asked everyone!
3. I used the rented office space so I could make phone calls without any distractions.
4. Renting shared office might have been a little extreme, but I wasn’t making numbers and I was willing to try anything I thought might help.
5. The reason I will succeed is because sales is about confidence and certainty about the product I am selling…I never felt good selling the way I was told…but If I never give up, and keep trying new things (like renting quiet office space to make calls) I will eventually find what I need to do to succeed.
6. Hotair1 is still in High School
Ok so you are looking for options and willing to try something different so you succeed in a format different than Jone but turn down an offer from ML? Hotair may be in highschool but he seems to be on the right track.
… Still, I’ve heard a hundred times “it’s your business” did you never hear this? You’ve seen many a Jones broker on this board say " as long as you are hitting your #s St. Louis will leave you alone"
They had their suggested products to sell and how to sell them .. I think most of it applys but I've sold insurance, VAs, UITs, C shares, and advisory solutions. All of which we were encouraged to wait to sell until after PDP. I've not gotten but two calls in 3 months - both touching base and suggesting I up my prospecting. Not a mention of how I was selling or what I was selling. Excuses bro... When i have a crap day, it's because of me. Not the fact I'm making calls out of the kitchen or my wife and kids get home at 4pm.I was sticking to it because I was certain I could turn things around. Maybe I was making excuses in the beginning, but everyone does. But, by eliminating my excuses, I could see that it all comes down to me. I wasn’t ready to give up and I believe if I had 3 more months I would have made things work.
If you went to the new FA meeting, you saw Phelan talk about how he sucked for his first 5 months. How he didn’t have any good training. But, that he started reading sales training materials and became a good sales person. I believe I was on the same track…month 3 of 5.
My decision not to take the ML offer had to do with a gut feeling that I would not fit in that office.
You were obviously not doing the work. If you had a hard time closing but were getting 25 or 30 contacts a day you would have had an easy bargaining chip and Jones would have sent you a helping hand or at the very least let you get to month 5. You let yourself get fired, let’s be honest. And as far as the guys at the office, you are begining to sound like MBA2FA at this point. Suck it up, you should have been greatful for an offer after dropping from jones.
[quote=fa09]You were obviously not doing the work. If you had a hard time closing but were getting 25 or 30 contacts a day you would have had an easy bargaining chip and Jones would have sent you a helping hand or at the very least let you get to month 5. You let yourself get fired, let’s be honest. And as far as the guys at the office, you are begining to sound like MBA2FA at this point. Suck it up, you should have been greatful for an offer after dropping from jones.[/quote]
All true…
I’m actually on the fence right now…not the straight/gay fence, like Voltmoie (zing!!!) but the FA/“Old Job” fence. I have an interview with NWL next week and 2 “old industry” interviews. I’m hoping that I have a better feel for what I want to do after I go through those.
[quote=voltmoie] … Still, I’ve heard a hundred times “it’s your business” did you never hear this?
It’s not your business.
Still - I think you should leave the business. PDP is there for a reason. Jones may not have the best research when it comes to investments, but they do have research on how likely people are to make it in the business. They probably devote most of their time to it.
If you can’t make it to PDP, you likely will not make it in this business.
You say "it's not your business"...technically speaking you are absolutely correct, I am an employee of Edward Jones! However, I certainly feel that I am my own boss. The only true difference to me is that Jones pays for everything and as my business grows, I will have a decision to make since I cannot sell my book upon retirement. Otherwise, I am here in my office with my BOA, and we can choose to run our business any way we choose, as long as we are legal and eventually profitable. Even Indy's have certain SEC rules to abide by. Your statement about PDP is spot on! The numbers required, as a new/new to reach PDP after 17 weeks are laughable and if a Broker can't hit them by that time, they are not cut out for this business at any firm, either due to their lack of skills/personality or sheer laziness![quote=voltmoie] … Still, I’ve heard a hundred times “it’s your business” did you never hear this?
It’s not your business.
Still - I think you should leave the business. PDP is there for a reason. Jones may not have the best research when it comes to investments, but they do have research on how likely people are to make it in the business. They probably devote most of their time to it.
If you can’t make it to PDP, you likely will not make it in this business.
I would agree. It takes, what, 4 or 5 months of selling, 25 contacts a day, to get to PDP with under $2500 in commissions on the table? That’s one decent rollover. If you weren’t going to do the work at Jones, you won’t do the work at some other company. It sucks there just like it sucks here.
If you can get back into your old industry making the kind of money you referenced before, do it. You'll thank us later.[quote=Moraen] [quote=voltmoie] … Still, I’ve heard a hundred times “it’s your business” did you never hear this? It’s not your business. Still - I think you should leave the business. PDP is there for a reason. Jones may not have the best research when it comes to investments, but they do have research on how likely people are to make it in the business. They probably devote most of their time to it. If you can’t make it to PDP, you likely will not make it in this business.
You say “it’s not your business”…technically speaking you are absolutely correct, I am an employee of Edward Jones! However, I certainly feel that I am my own boss. The only true difference to me is that Jones pays for everything and as my business grows, I will have a decision to make since I cannot sell my book upon retirement. Otherwise, I am here in my office with my BOA, and we can choose to run our business any way we choose, as long as we are legal and eventually profitable. Even Indy’s have certain SEC rules to abide by.
Your statement about PDP is spot on! The numbers required, as a new/new to reach PDP after 17 weeks are laughable and if a Broker can’t hit them by that time, they are not cut out for this business at any firm, either due to their lack of skills/personality or sheer laziness![/quote]
HKA - technically speaking and realistically speaking I am correct. True difference is you work only as a broker of investments (and credit cards and mortgages I guess). I do things that are legal, ethical AND profitable that you can’t do. So that means you can’t run your Jones office as you see fit. You run it according to Jones. Can you sell your clients bonds that are not in inventory at Jones? Can you sell a stock under $2 to your clients? Can you write covered calls? Can you collar stock?
Jones is a great firm. We will have to disagree about the business ownership thing, since I don’t think I’ll ever convince you guys.
But at least we can agree on the PDP thing!
Why we can’t sell covered calls and other perfectly ethical and conservative things I will never understand. And bttw I believe we can’t trade stocks under $4 not $2. However the reputation among clients truly is unprecedented, so they do a lot of things right, just ask Jim Cramer.
[quote=Moraen] [quote=Hey Kool-Aid] [quote=Moraen] [quote=voltmoie] … Still, I’ve heard a hundred times “it’s your business” did you never hear this? It’s not your business. Still - I think you should leave the business. PDP is there for a reason. Jones may not have the best research when it comes to investments, but they do have research on how likely people are to make it in the business. They probably devote most of their time to it. If you can’t make it to PDP, you likely will not make it in this business.[/quote]
You say "it's not your business"...technically speaking you are absolutely correct, I am an employee of Edward Jones! However, I certainly feel that I am my own boss. The only true difference to me is that Jones pays for everything and as my business grows, I will have a decision to make since I cannot sell my book upon retirement. Otherwise, I am here in my office with my BOA, and we can choose to run our business any way we choose, as long as we are legal and eventually profitable. Even Indy's have certain SEC rules to abide by.
Your statement about PDP is spot on! The numbers required, as a new/new to reach PDP after 17 weeks are laughable and if a Broker can't hit them by that time, they are not cut out for this business at any firm, either due to their lack of skills/personality or sheer laziness![/quote]
HKA - technically speaking and realistically speaking I am correct. True difference is you work only as a broker of investments (and credit cards and mortgages I guess). I do things that are legal, ethical AND profitable that you can't do. So that means you can't run your Jones office as you see fit. You run it according to Jones. Can you sell your clients bonds that are not in inventory at Jones? Can you sell a stock under $2 to your clients? Can you write covered calls? Can you collar stock?
Jones is a great firm. We will have to disagree about the business ownership thing, since I don't think I'll ever convince you guys.
But at least we can agree on the PDP thing![/quote] I guess that is why I highlighted and underlined TO ME . The things you mentioned may be good strategies for money management, but they are not absolutely necessary to properly help the type of client that we serve. The only thing that I would definately find usefull of those things is writing of covered calls. But the individual investors I am dealing with wouldn't understand some of the more creative ways to invest and are watching there investments beat the S&P which is all they really care about. I have come across plenty of advisors that are indy and have access to all those wonderful things that you listed and continue to underperform markets and lose money for thier clients, and on the other side of the coin, I have seen Broker's of avg intelligence use Jones Inventory Bonds & American Funds and have their clients well prepared for early retirement. I am a big believer that the Advisor is much more important thant the available products. What we have available at Jones may not be as extensive as an Indy platform, but it is more than adequate in the right hands to build a fine portfolio and take care of our clients!
[quote=Moraen] [quote=Hey Kool-Aid] [quote=Moraen] [quote=voltmoie] … Still, I’ve heard a hundred times “it’s your business” did you never hear this? It’s not your business. Still - I think you should leave the business. PDP is there for a reason. Jones may not have the best research when it comes to investments, but they do have research on how likely people are to make it in the business. They probably devote most of their time to it. If you can’t make it to PDP, you likely will not make it in this business.[/quote]
You say "it's not your business"...technically speaking you are absolutely correct, I am an employee of Edward Jones! However, I certainly feel that I am my own boss. The only true difference to me is that Jones pays for everything and as my business grows, I will have a decision to make since I cannot sell my book upon retirement. Otherwise, I am here in my office with my BOA, and we can choose to run our business any way we choose, as long as we are legal and eventually profitable. Even Indy's have certain SEC rules to abide by.
Your statement about PDP is spot on! The numbers required, as a new/new to reach PDP after 17 weeks are laughable and if a Broker can't hit them by that time, they are not cut out for this business at any firm, either due to their lack of skills/personality or sheer laziness![/quote]
HKA - technically speaking and realistically speaking I am correct. True difference is you work only as a broker of investments (and credit cards and mortgages I guess). I do things that are legal, ethical AND profitable that you can't do. So that means you can't run your Jones office as you see fit. You run it according to Jones. Can you sell your clients bonds that are not in inventory at Jones? Can you sell a stock under $2 to your clients? Can you write covered calls? Can you collar stock?
Jones is a great firm. We will have to disagree about the business ownership thing, since I don't think I'll ever convince you guys.
But at least we can agree on the PDP thing![/quote] You don't have to convince me. I look at myself like a "branch office manager" (not in the technical sense) or general manager of a business, not the owner of the business. In the grand scheme of things, you don't have to "call" yourself anything. But Jones never says you "own" your own business. You "run" your own business. There's a distinct difference. And it's a stupid argument anyway. It is what it is, and whatever we call it is just semantics. Anyoen fooled into thinking they can own and sell their book at Jones is either really stupid or, well, really stupid. It's no different at a wirehouse.
Why we can’t sell covered calls and other perfectly ethical and conservative things I will never understand. And bttw I believe we can’t trade stocks under $4 not $2. However the reputation among clients truly is unprecedented, so they do a lot of things right, just ask Jim Cramer.
I agree that your reputation among the mass affluent is unprecedented. However, the whole "we'll bore you rich" thing is false. Nobody gets rich at Edward Jones.
My guess is that most Edward Jones clients don't know the first thing about investing and so of course think everything is great.
And I like Jim Cramer. I think he did your firm a solid with that statement he put out. I find it odd that Jones leaders bashed him so much.
Moraen, I liek your posts, but I have to tell you, if you think that Jones is the only firm “not making people rich”, then you live in a little bubble. Maybe we don’t sell obscure products or use sophisticated strategies, but the truth is, 95% of all advisors out there are managing just as simply as Jones. I have almost NEVER seen a wirehouse or Indy portfolio come over that was anything more sophisticated than what we offer. 9 times out of 10, the portfolio is much worse than what I do for clients, and 1 out of 10 MIGHT be even close. And I’M NOT BEING THAT CREATIVE WITH MY INVESTMENTS.
I have seen a grand total of TWO portfolios come over with options. And I have probably ACAT'd 50-60 households (the rest being rollovers, checks, CD's, trust transfers, etc.) I also know several wirehouse AND indy brokers AND RIA's personally. Exactly ZERO of them are doing anything we can't do. One indy does American Funds ONLY, another does simple mutual fund models, the two RIA's (OK, IAR's of their RIA so nobody tries to CORRECT me) both do discretionary mutual fund models (actually one uses index funds and ETF's), and the wirehouse guys use primarily SMA's, mutual fund models, annuities, and individual muni's. There is a very small % of advisors out there (though a high % in the UHNW space) using sophisticated products or strategies. And I am not saying that's good or bad, just that your suggestion that Edward Jones is alone in this is patently false (OK, to be fair, you didn't say we were the only firm like this, but it seemed like you were alluding to that fact) .I didn’t mean just Jones at all B. I pretty much meant all firms. And I like “patently false” - I used that earlier.
I see pretty much the same. No matter where it comes from. I think that it is slightly more difficult at a captive firm and I think that the philosophy is one of let’s make you some “decent” returns. Yet time after time, I heard “just tell your clients, we may be boring, but we’ll bore you rich!”.
Anyway. I definitely don’t think that Jones is the only one. But, since we were talking about Jones…