JD Power Rankings
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So I have a theory on this JD Power Investor Satisfaction rankings thing. I am the first one to admit that I don’t think Edward Jones has some magnificent advantage over other firms. I think we have a culture of client service, and I can’t speak to the culture at other firms, but I am certain that plenty of FA’s at plenty of firms give great client service.
So here is my theory....I saw a statistic the other day about investor satisfaction based on numerous factors...tenure of FA, longevity of client relationship, client satisfaction based on number of households per FA, etc. It is obvious that the sweet spot for client satisfaction is actually LESS tenured FA's. This is likely because as your practice grows, and you get beyond the "managable" level of clients, service to the bottom 80% of clients will start to suffer (unless you are a service superstar, or have a big team). And after a number of years, the "honeymoon period" with clients falls off, and you call them a little less, whatever. Well, at Jones, the average tenure is probably the shortest in the entire industry. So many of the FA's are out between 3-5 years. Well, of course their clients are getting great service - you only have a few hundred clients to worry about. I have friends at other wires in the business 25+ years, and they have told me flat out that they do not proactively call anyone with less than 250K, and even most with under 500K, and that they have WAY too many clients to manage effectively. But what they do for their top 50-75 clients is pretty amazing. I also question a nationwide survey that contacted only 4500 people on like 10 different firms. I think it is hard to get a real statistical sampling in this business, since there are different serivce levels BY DESIGN at most firms. Not sure if this is accurate or not. It's just a theory. But although I think Jones has a good culture of service, I don't know that we are THAT GOOD every year. I would welcome other feedback.Whether or not it's a statistically significant number seems moot. I'd imagine a firm like JDP knows what that number is and doesn't need to lectured on it.
I don't think there's any secret to it; we simply have what the survey asks. We have more locations, so we're more convenient. You don't need to have a minimum to actually speak to an advisor, so we have an actual advisor to grade. Because of the relative simplicity of what we offer, our statements are easy to read. Our clientele tend to be less sophisticated investors - so to them our offerings are exactly what they want. I don't know how many times a LP told me not to look for an aggressive customer, because we don't fit that prototype. JP Power asks questions that shoot directly into what we do best. And nobody, nobody hits their target audience better than EDJ. Doesn't make us the best choice for investors, doesn't make us the best choice for FA's, doesn't mean we make the best money for our clients, or our FA's make the most money in the business. We do do it better than the competition. I suppose if you don't aim for UHNW investors, you won't get the headaches that come with them.I distrust surveys for the same reason I call everyone(over 45) not on the DNC… you just never know…
I think sampling makes sense in some instances(population estimates, school enrollment estimates etc) however when each individual will have a vastly different opinion i think these awards are useless. I wonder how many of the people called have more than one broker(70%) and if they compared there current firm(returns, contact with advisor) to the other one… however they haven’t been at the other 10 firms to justify that answer.
LockEDJ… I don’t think by dumbing down investing to people who don’t qualify other places should count as an award
LockEDJ I agree with your take on things. You guys know your target market and aren’t trying to be some kind of global banking model wannabe.
[quote=Squash1]…
LockEDJ… I don’t think by dumbing down investing to people who don’t qualify other places should count as an award[/quote]
Yes, yes … because making investing smart and complicated works so very, very well at other places. In fact, you can tell how well it works because of the ranking of places like MSSB and UBS. But I’ll agree with this much: surveys rarely tell you much about anything but the survey itself.
At the end of the day, I do believe in about 99% of all cases the less a financial advisor gets between a client and their money the better off the client will be. And that’s because in about 70% of the time, the guy in the tie simply was able to outlast the pain and financial hardship of the job … not because he’s some rocket scientist when it comes to MPT or asset allocation.
Hey, that’s just my opinion. That, and 50K will get you two breakpoints at A-share American Funds. Who needs to worry about multiple asset classes, anyways?
Edit: Rereading this, it occurs to me that it sounds waaaay more snarky than I meant. Apologies.
And that’s because in about 70% of the time, the guy in the tie simply was able to outlast the pain and financial hardship of the job … not because he’s some rocket scientist when it comes to MPT or asset allocation.
What do you mean by this? Could you elaborate?
[quote=shmer34] And that’s because in about 70% of the time, the guy in the tie simply was able to outlast the pain and financial hardship of the job … not because he’s some rocket scientist when it comes to MPT or asset allocation.
What do you mean by this? Could you elaborate?
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Sort of thought this was clear but …
On the whole, this is a game of survival for the first 500 days. You make it to that point, you’ll probably go on to make enough money to keep you in the game.
It’s really a sort of extension of the Peter Principle. From what I’ve seen, the average FA is absolutely not concerned a whit about improving their knowledge about finance especially once they’ve reached a point where they have a margin of safety in their business.
Evidence: how many FAs in your firm have gone on to get accredited by a financial organization, or spend significant amounts of time reading periodicals like Journal of Finance? My guess if fewer than you’d like. And those that did, probably stopped learning a long, long time ago.
My (former) RL had something like four titles after his name. He was a brilliant seller AND a brilliant analyst. So I do believe that people like that exist. I also believe that those advisors are rarer than they should be.
Regional Leader. Perhaps at your firm you’ll have Branch Managers; not an option at EDJ, insofar as none of us have their S24.
Perhaps we won the award because we are #1! Stop trying to throw darts at Edward Jones.
Customers voted us #1 … deal with it!
[quote=Weddle Me] Perhaps we won the award because we are #1! Stop trying to throw darts at Edward Jones.Customers voted us #1 … deal with it!
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And perhaps you’re an asshole that adds nothing to conversations. Yes, I’m pretty sure that’s the trick.
No one in this thread - no one - was “throwing darts at Edward Jones”. Get over yourself.
Really? Trying to explain away the JD Power award is not throwing darts? What’s your IQ, 75?
We won the award for a simple reason. Our culture is about service and doing the right thing. Other firms talk it - we live it. Of course we are not perfect but we are better than everyone else. SUCK ON THAT!
Edward Jones #1
You're right-- This guy has real issues. What would happen to his self esteem if EJ fell to #2 in the rankings? Better hide the sharp objects! LAIt was funny at first no its just sad…
You guys have issues with telling the truth? Edward Jones won the JD Power award. Instead of saying, wow those guys really do a great job taking care of their customers you try to find REASONS we won it.
We won it because we are the best. It’s a fact you need to deal with. Someone has to be #1 and we are. SUCK ON THAT LADIES
EDJ#1
As a caricature, Weddle Me is funny. Now I am starting to think he means it? Is so, unbelievably immature…thought is what all a joke, still hoping it is for all our sake…signed, Someone Who Likes Edj, Once Worked There, And Knows That There Are Quality People At Every Firm Trying To Do The Right Thing
[quote=Weddle Me] Really? Trying to explain away the JD Power award is not throwing darts? What’s your IQ, 75?
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I don’t need to trot out my educational qualifications, or how I scored on the Mensa test for the likes of you. I won’t lower myself to your stupidity.
Again, read the thread: Nobody is “throwing darts”. There ARE reasons for winning the award; and in fact, Meddle Me, the reasons I posted are exactly what your own namesake stated.
Oh … what am I thinking? Read the thread? Understand what Jim himself has stated? Clearly above you.
[quote=Weddle Me]Perhaps we won the award because we are #1! Stop trying to throw darts at Edward Jones.
Customers voted us #1 … deal with it!
[/quote]
Stop trying to catch them. It’s ruining your complexion.