New to Edward Jones

Welcome aboard...there's literally thousands of posts relating to your question already here for your browsing pleasure.  Simply click on the search button in the upper righthand corner and type in some key words "Edward Jones great" "Edward Jones sucks" "EDJ" "Doug Hill", etc.,etc.,etc.  You get the picture.  The longest thread I've found on here, some 70+ pages of posts relates directly to Edward Jones.  You'll also find plenty of spirited debate in most Jones threads.  Finally, you might also search by poster for different viewpoints on Jones.  Spaceman Spiff, Broker 24, Incredible Hulk, and Maxstud are all current Jones employees (I think) and satisfied with the firm (I think).  Folks like uwec86, bspears, footsoldier, freefromjones, and edj4now can give you an opposing viewpoint.  Again, simply use the search function and search by poster.

Good luck with your career...it's tough at first with a low success rate, but if you get over the hump, it's very hard to beat for job satisfaction and compensation.

Indyone, thanks for the leads. I’ll do my research and jump on a discussion from there…

Naq, just work hard and keep doing something. Anytime you don’t know

what to do, just go introduce yourself to a local business owner. Never

stop moving, never stop calling, never stop your activity. And just don’t

worry about the EDJ vs. EDJ Sucks camps. For the first few years, it makes

little difference where you work. Don’t get caught up in the EDJ pros/

cons, why people left, etc yet. It will only distract you. You will have the

rest of your career to worry about that. Just set the right foundation and

work habits and you’ll be off to the races.



In the very beginning, just do what they tell you. Do the doorknocking,

make the calls, etc. Get as many people in your pipeline as possible. But

start networking, teaching classes, doing seminars, etc as quickly as

possible. Jones won’t teach you much about that other stuff, so you need

to be proactive and do it yourself (I found many good ideas on this

board). If there are a lot of businesses in your area, get to know them

(early and often). If you don’t, you will regret it three years from now

(they are available during the day, and they have money and needs).



Just remember, most of the anti-Jones stuff applies more to those out a

few years or more. DON’T get caught up in it yet. Oh yeah, make sure

you have money tucked away and you curb your spending. It will make

the first few years bearable.



Good luck, PM me if you have specific questions.

[quote=Broker24]

Oh yeah, make sure you have money tucked away and you curb your spending. It will make the first few years bearable.

[/quote]

If you don't pay attention to anything else, pay attention to the above statement. My salary ended a while back with Jones, and now what was once a good month in terms of production/income is now a month that barely provides the income to enable me to pay my bills.

I'm now making less than when I was a state trooper, and I didn't think that was possible.

Here’s a good idea… Quit

[quote=Borker Boy]

[quote=Broker24]

Oh yeah, make sure you have money tucked away and you curb your spending. It will make the first few years bearable. [/quote]

If you don’t pay attention to anything else, pay attention to the above statement. My salary ended a while back with Jones, and now what was once a good month in terms of production/income is now a month that barely provides the income to enable me to pay my bills.

I’m now making less than when I was a state trooper, and I didn’t think that was possible.

Naqoyqatsi,

You'll find a sorts of advice from many different characters on this board.  As you can probably tell from my name, I used to be at Jones but no longer am. I left Jones and became independent because that's what was right for me. I am happy that Jones gave me a chance to get started and that I walked down that road.  I'm also glad that I took a different path when the opportunity presented itself.  Knock yourself out, work hard, and if you choose to stay with Jones your entire career, do it and do it right.  If you get tired at some point making less money than a bus boy at Denny's as referenced above, get the heck out and take care of yourself.  The GP's and the regional leaders, when it comes down to the bottom line, won't.  They care about their business and their pocketbook.  There are things you'll learn along the way that you weren't told when you were hired.  If you can work through the things you'll find out about and still want to work at Jones, do it!!  Just keep your eyes and ears open.  And whatever you do, DON'T DRINK THE KOOLAID!!

Bringing in business/assets and being able to invest that money in a manner that provides good commissions is two different issues.

I think I'm probably making more than a busboy, but I'm not positive.

And, yes, I'm finding that a job where income is derived from 100% commissions can really test a person's integrity and creates a HUGE conflict of interest. 

It's imperative that we all give unbiased advice (to maintain what little credibility we have), but being able to feed my family is fairly important.

[quote=Borker Boy]

And, yes, I’m finding that a job where income is derived from 100% commissions can really test a person’s integrity and creates a HUGE conflict of interest. 

It's imperative that we all give unbiased advice (to maintain what little credibility we have), but being able to feed my family is fairly important.


[/quote]

As Shakespeare said, 'Therein lies the rub...."

One good things about Jones on this front is that they will teach you how to sell and prospect and keep things simple.  One big negative is that they are not very big on teaching you how to structure your business so that you do not have to constantly seek new assets merely to survive.  And then there are the other "revenue maximization strategies" I wished I'd learned years ago.

One suggestion I will share-something I wished I'd learned years ago.  Try to keep your book of business very simple.  Go through all the investment options in front of you(that you like) and narrow things down to a fairly small set of choices so that when a moderate risk investor comes to you with a 65000 IRA you know exactly what you're going to do for them, and it will likely be the same as what you did for an 85,000 or 50,000 moderate risk investment last month.  Or maybe, at least narrow down your inventory to a family of 'building blocks' that you can mix and match to build more customized solutions.

The more you can simplify like this the better it will be for you and your clients (and your family).  IT will allow you to become more proficient at selling that smaller family of products and be able to monitor their performance more closely going forward.  It will also make you more efficient and thus leave more time and energy for selling and prospecting related activities.

Great advice. Keep it streamlined. Do your diligence and establish an investment matrix (whether its MF's for accounts under $500K, SMA's for over 500K, ETF's, etc) and adhere to it. Learn the managers and follow them closely. If their is underperfomance or a manager leaves, you are able to make a change across the board. By following 20-40 funds instead of 125, you are able to more effectively prospect for new business, do client events, etc...

Good luck.

[quote=Borker Boy]And, yes, I’m finding that a job where income
is derived from 100% commissions can really test a
person’s integrity and creates a HUGE conflict of interest. 

It's imperative that we all give unbiased advice (to maintain what little credibility we have), but being able to feed my family is fairly important.[/quote]

I think Op will save himself if he learns the old 2/2/2 method. Which is to use two fund families, buy two stocks, and buy two bonds.

I'd work at familiarising myself with funds that are not on the preferred list. I.e do not be a GFA slave.

If you learn nothing else from Academic finance, do not buy growth stocks/funds, Value stocks only!

Learn to read the companies research reports so that you have something insightful to say at all times.

[quote=joedabrkr]

This seems like such a simple and obvious idea, but some people
never learn to do it.  After all, it’s human nature to always look
for the newest and best idea.  Plus, the "product distribution"
model of MOST b/d’s works against this concept…after all, there’s
always another wholesaler who wants to drop by and buy you lunch and
tell you about HIS asset allocation/large cap value/high yield
product.  Resist the temptation.
[/quote]



Yes, the one shot target date or target risk funds are the way to go
for smaller accounts. Don’t forget to try and steal bank deposits via
brokered CD’s



I would also ignore the siren call of high yeild and (floating rate
income) funds.  That is simply not appropraite for people who need
steady income. The risk of junk credits has been masked, but when
conditions revert to normal, it will be most impressive.

develop a niche/target market, and go after it. place all the assets you raise your 1st year in upfront commission products. wait until you have $10mill in assets before you start using wrap accounts.

[quote=Borker Boy]

If you don't pay attention to anything else, pay attention to the above statement. My salary ended a while back with Jones, and now what was once a good month in terms of production/income is now a month that barely provides the income to enable me to pay my bills.

I'm now making less than when I was a state trooper, and I didn't think that was possible.

[/quote]

Borker, if I was a new Jones guy, your posts would make me nervous. A few months back, you were saying how great Jones is, how you took over a nice size office, you even said that a Jones IR in a small town can live like a big city lawyer.  In the past few weeks, you have said you were thinking of quitting and going back to law enforcement, and you're making no money. Well, what's up? 

Do you see yourself at Jones in five years?

For all of you Jones kool-aid drinkers who have been following this, you have witnessed the lightbulb beginning to turn on for Borker.   It turned on for me after my salary dropped off, and I started going into debt.  Even when I had good months, my take home amount was pitiful.  This board was the tipping point for me to leave Jones.

I still think Jones is a good place to start, it's just not all that the recruiting department (and RLs) make it out to be.

[quote=Vin Diesel]

develop a niche/target market, and go after it. place all the assets you raise your 1st year in upfront commission products. wait until you have $10mill in assets before you start using wrap accounts.

[quote=now_indy]For all of you Jones kool-aid drinkers who have been
following this, you have witnessed the lightbulb beginning to turn on
for Borker.   It turned on for me after my salary
dropped off, and I started going into debt.

[/quote]



This is where my name comes from. During the paid portion of my
employment I put all my spare cash into REITs so I would have something
to fall back on. It simply takes a long time to build the right sort of book and you can starve while doing so.



EDJ would be very smart if they changed the payout on A-share trails to
be 80%. This would result in a longer tailed income stream for brokers.



Even the long awaited move to wrap accounts (i.e turning the battle
ship) won’t help much. Assuming a 75bp fee on E-share wrap accounts ,
at 45% payout == 33bp to the FA. In order to have $70,000 in take home
pay, you’d have to have upwards of $22 AUM.



The existing scheme basicly means you start from scratch each month, just like Sisyphus.

[quote=AllREIT]The existing scheme basicly means you start from scratch each month, just like Sisyphus.[/quote]

Yes! Sisyphus. That is exactly the kind of employee Jones is looking for.

[quote=AllREIT]



The existing scheme basicly means you start from scratch each month, just like Sisyphus.[/quote]

A powerful and accurate metahpor, sir!

Thank you all for the advice. I’m sure I’ll be getting in touch from
time to time as my training progresses and issues come up. Everyone
that I’ve spoken with at Jones so far has not sugar coated how
difficult it can be starting out, especially in the first two years.
But there also making great money, some after only 3-4 years, so I’m beginning to think there has to be something they’re doing right that other Jones reps maybe aren’t? Can’t just be luck or the town they decided to work in can it?

Maybe it’ll be a career, or maybe I’ll learn the ropes and go solo
after while. Who knows.



One  more quick one. Does anyone here know anybody in this field of
work who is also in the National Guard or Reserve? Jones hired me
knowing that I have such a commitment, and I was wondering what happens
to a guy when he comes back after being deployed for say, 18 months? 

[quote=Naqoyqatsi]

One  more quick one. Does anyone here know anybody in this field of work who is also in the National Guard or Reserve? Jones hired me knowing that I have such a commitment, and I was wondering what happens to a guy when he comes back after being deployed for say, 18 months?  [/quote]

This is a question you should have posed before being hired, but it's not too late to ask it now. Given the high rate of turnover at EDJ (and this business in general for that matter), an 18 month deployment might mean your clients would go through several FA's before your return. The bad part is that they may not remain your clients for long, especially if a departing FA (who just happens to be covering your clients while you're deployed) decides to get them to transfer to another B/D. Bottomline: Your book of clients could be decimated after 18 months of deployment.

Solution? Maybe other posters, smarter than me, have a better suggestion, but I would try to get your clients assigned to an established EDJ broker - even if they are located out of town. Less chance of the broker leaving, less chance of financial shenanigans.

Oh, and by the way, THANK YOU FOR SERVING OUR COUNTRY!

Don't let the complaining about the big green machine on this board affect you.  Our issues and not your issues.  When you are getting started, 90% of success is just getting up off the ground after you get knocked down (at least 25 times a day!) and asking the next person for the order with a smile. 

There are successful people everywhere, put in your 3 years at EDJ and then decide if you want to stay or make a change.  It is very easy to listen to people on the boards complain and use that as an excuse to quit.  If you don't do it and can just survive 3-5 years, you will have a long successful career in this business.

They have changed the compensation since I went through, but the second year is worse than the first because the salary went away, and the third wasn't really that much better either because my expenses were higher.  You need to live for the next 3 years like you are broke, but realize if you can do that you can survive and the rewards are tremendous later.

[quote=Naqoyqatsi]Thank you all for the advice. I'm sure I'll be getting in touch from time to time as my training progresses and issues come up. Everyone that I've spoken with at Jones so far has not sugar coated how difficult it can be starting out, especially in the first two years. But there also making great money, some after only 3-4 years, so I'm beginning to think there has to be something they're doing right that other Jones reps maybe aren't? Can't just be luck or the town they decided to work in can it?

Maybe it'll be a career, or maybe I'll learn the ropes and go solo after while. Who knows.

One  more quick one. Does anyone here know anybody in this field of work who is also in the National Guard or Reserve? Jones hired me knowing that I have such a commitment, and I was wondering what happens to a guy when he comes back after being deployed for say, 18 months?  [/quote]

We had a guy like that in my region, he served his time and while he was gone a new FA ran his office, when he returned he had his choice of his old office or anywhere in the country he wanted to go with approximately same asset base. I thought it was a good corporate decision.

Thanks all. I recently got word that my unit “might” deploy, which of course, in military vernacular, means that we definitely will and that we definitely will not. Anyway, everyone who I interviewed with was well aware of my Guard status so I figured it was no big deal. Guess I’ll burn that bridge when/if it comes and focus on the rest for now.

Got another quick question. An FA that I interviewed with asked me if I was interested in doing a GoodKnight program with him. Are there any disadvantages to this? What kinds of questions should I be asking about this program.

Thanks again!     

Nagoyatsi,

Ah, the old Goodknight question. I was a Goodknight and it can have its advantages andd disadvantages.  First you do get some assets and some warm clients.  Second you get to work in an office with a vet who could be a good mentor.  Third, you get to tell everyone that you are training under ___ who has been in town XXX number of years and has agreed to mentor you.

Now for bad side. Some of the clients you get are unhappy that the vet has ignored them and you'll get the brunt of their dissatisfaction.  Second, you could get an a-hole of a vet who just wants you because the home office said he could get a box checked off if he participates and he'll be more profitable because you will be paying part of his expenses. Third, the accounts you do get are generally the sludge of the vet's book which may or may not generate any business for you.

Yes, there are good and bad sides but negotiate eveything with the vet.  I was supposed to get all of the walk-in traffic to the office, which starting out, I did.  Then one day a couple came in and I transferred in $1 million and the vet got so p'd off that I never got another walk-in.  He took every walk-in and if they opened an account, he put it in the house book.  The agreement wasn't written down, bad on me.  Don't let this happen to you.

Bottom-line, if the offer is there, take it.  It can't hurt and if you're bound and determined to stay at Jones, get all the help you can.

By the way, the $1 million client is still with me, even though I'm no longer with Jones.

Good job free.  The greedy EDJ broker…what comes around…goes around!!

[quote=bspears]Good job free.  The greedy EDJ broker…what comes around…goes around!![/quote]

The way its been explained to me is that the Goodknight program is an effort to better customer service vis a vis taking a bit of the load off of a veteran FA.
Mind you, I’m green, but not so much as to believe everything I’m told by my EJ advisors; it does sound like, based on prior posts, that the FA I’ll be doing the Goodknight with will benefit somehow. Regardless, it seems like it would make more sense for me to do the Goodknight, have a head start in the business, and share some expenses with the veteran FA, as opposed to starting off with no accounts, and still having expenses.

Changing subjects, any general advice on the series 7?

Cheers,
Noy

Naq,

I think Free’s explanation was pretty on-point. I did a GK, but had the

advantage of a GREAT vet to work with. We became very good friends,

and he was genuinely interested in me “making it”. He is Seg 5, and is

not concerned about competition or any of that nonsense. And he was

very upfront with me that I was getting the bottom of his barrel clients.

So, my advice (which is similar to Free)…take the GK…you will be MUCH

better off than NOT taking it. The alternative is that you start with

absolutely zero and no office. Taking it, you start with SOMETHING and

you get an office to work out of. Not a tough choice. If you are well

connected, have a well established network or something, then that might

be the exception. But I really can’t think of a reason NOT to take it. Just

bear in mind that you and the Vet may hate each other. And yes, get it all

down in writing - the GK “counselor” in STL will explain all of that. Make

sure you actually do it, and that the BOA’s understand the deal as well.

For the record, in my office, whoever took the walk-in would put the

account in the house account, so we split the commission. It avoids the

situation stated by Free.



You also may luck out and have a great Vet that really helps you. Mine

ended up paying for a lot of advertising and stuff for me. And make no

mistake, the Vets make out FAR better than they may lead on. The

program just changed, and it is a SWEET deal for them. They get paid,

reduced overhead expenses (higher bonus), get rid of crummy accounts,

the BOA gets paid (don’t need to give her as much of your bonus), and

you get credit towards partnership. My Vet thanks me every day for it on

his way to the bank.