My Jones Rant
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So today I hear from a buddy of mine who works for Jones. He’s struggling a bit and is below expectations. An office comes open with 30M in assets. Instead of giving it to him, they split it and give 15 to a newer guy and 15 to a guy without his can sell date yet. I guess the questions I have is:#1. Why would you split up the 30 and #2. What is the different between someone who is honestly working really hard but struggling and a guy fresh out of KYC? I would think the guy struggling would know a bit more since he’s been out a year. Dunno but he said the RL said that the home office mentioned they wanted to give enough assets to each person so that they, “Could not fail”. Tarded if you ask me.
Has he asked for help? Does his RL know he’s working hard? Why didn’t they call me, I would move for 30mm?
Because no matter what they do, someone will be pissed. If they kept it all together in one office, people would say “That’s bullsh!t! Why should one guy get the whole thing?” If they gave it all to your buddy, people would say “That’s bullsh!t!, He only made it because they handed him a book.”
There is absolutely no way to allocate assets to make everyone happy. So it's not even worth discussing.B24–until they come up with a reasonable and fair formula, they’re screwed. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just something resembling fair–like someone actually took some time, thought, and gave a sh*t. They’re playing with people’s lives, livelihoods, careers, marriages, and plenty of other things.
Actually - it does matter. My guess is that these newbies either A) know a GP, B) were PASS programmers or C) did a LOT of ass kissing.
The simple fact of the matter is that it’s a free-for-all at Jones when it comes to open offices.
As for your buddy Wind - part of the reason is because he’s below expectations at this time. Bad timing. Sucks for him.
Yeah I knew it was because he was below expectations, but when someones been working for a year, why would you give it to someone who can’t even sell yet? Can’t sell vs. below expectations seems pretty similar to me.
I think it’s a bad business decision to give a guy that is failing a branch, although I’m sure your buddy is working hard. I’ve seen it happen a few times and just rubs me the wrong way. Totally understand the business decision when it’s a guy above the watermark. That said, giving 15mm to someone that has never made a sales call is pathetic.
I agree with B24 that there is simply no fair way to do it but if the decision had some logic and process behind it that would solve some hurt feelings and resentment. However, I have seen process and logic get in the way of good decisions.
My solution: each year every RL has to go before a group of GP or other RLs and defend these types of decisions just like “boards” for Doctors.
And why wouldn’t they entertain splitting it 3 ways and giving your buddy 10. The guy has his head down, busting his ass and they should give him a reward for doing so. This would give 3 guys an opportunity to begin successful businesses.
Volt - I am with you about moving for 30mil. A guy in my old region moved to the east coast with his entire family to sunset a 100mil office. I asked him how he pulled that off and he said, "just call the home office and you can get a list of open offices across the country." Well, I did that the very next day and was told you needed a reference from your RL. Mine was an arrogant douche and I had no interest asking him for help so I gave up on the idea.No two 30 million dollar offices are the same. Is the former trying to take those clients? If so it could shrink to 5-10 real quick. 15 million per FA in A share business is no guarantee they will not fail, it will buy them an extra year because of the trails and some easy business but if those FA's do not keep building they will still be gone. Jones does not want to give it to a guy failing because they have proven they probably will not last, just more turnover for thsoe clients, maybe the KYC guy has an impressive background that makes the RL believe he will do well. Because Jones has individual offices you can't split up to many ways before you are asking the clients to travel far to see the FA. Whoever gets the original office will retain the most assets because clients will request to transfer back with the BOA they know and location they like.So today I hear from a buddy of mine who works for Jones. He’s struggling a bit and is below expectations. An office comes open with 30M in assets. Instead of giving it to him, they split it and give 15 to a newer guy and 15 to a guy without his can sell date yet. I guess the questions I have is:#1. Why would you split up the 30 and #2. What is the different between someone who is honestly working really hard but struggling and a guy fresh out of KYC? I would think the guy struggling would know a bit more since he’s been out a year. Dunno but he said the RL said that the home office mentioned they wanted to give enough assets to each person so that they, “Could not fail”. Tarded if you ask me.
Joke my ass. When you start with zero 15mm is a 2-3 yr head start and a heck of a cushion the 2nd year when your salary runs out.15 million is a joke. Worry about what you can control.
I have seen this happen too. Unfortunately, I think they had to do it this way.
First, imagine the precedent that is set if you give someone that is below expectations an office with assets like that. You essentially are telling everyone that all you need to do is not get fired until something opens up, and then Jones will hand you something. And really, if you are struggling with our expectations, I mean, you may want to look at your career choice. As for the RL giving it to a new guy, they have to give it to someone. Everyone else is probably either below expectations, comfortable where they are, in a market where they can't shuffle people around, or some combination of the three. The RL just has to pick the lesser of all the evils. B24 is right, there is no way to have everyone be happy.Simple reason is that the RL needs to have a net 1 on his report card this year. He's already at a -1 with the FA who left. So, he can either backfill that office with one person, which would really piss off the rest of the people in the region and give him a net 0 for growth, or he can split the office, give a decent chunk to two people and get his net 1. Those two new FAs, who may or may not have made it if they started new/new, get a big enough book that they should survive without any issues. They should be good for the first 6 months or so on trails alone.
Guys who are below expectations don't get squat at Jones. While it may seem logical to you to give some assets to a struggling FA, Jones sees it as throwing good assets at a bad advisor. If he couldn't do it on his own merit, he doesn't deserve a handout from Jones. Never mind that something like that could be just the boost someone needs to get them over the hump and out of whatever rut they're in. It's just the way they do it. They've been working that way for decades, why stop now?Actually, the best solution is to give those assets to a meeting expectations Segment 3 or 4 advisor. You are a) likely to keep more of the assets with an experienced guy and b) gain more loyalty from that Segment 3 broker and c) bump up production.
Send it in to Weddle folks.
I like that idea.Actually, the best solution is to give those assets to a meeting expectations Segment 3 or 4 advisor. You are a) likely to keep more of the assets with an experienced guy and b) gain more loyalty from that Segment 3 broker and c) bump up production.
Send it in to Weddle folks.
Oddly enough, this would answer Spaceman's riff on +1/-1 for everyone. Give your book to a newer local guy, you go to Newtown, USA. Two regions go +1; yet the company is at net zero.Has he asked for help? Does his RL know he’s working hard? Why didn’t they call me, I would move for 30mm?
Yeah I knew it was because he was below expectations, but when someones been working for a year, why would you give it to someone who can’t even sell yet? Can’t sell vs. below expectations seems pretty similar to me.
Potential vs known.. just like nfl and nba drafts..
This is what I've been telling a few of my friends that are still with Jones for years. 15 mill to a new broker will help them succeed but any chance of them doorknocking after their can sell date is slim to none. Actually any prospecting is slim to none other than working that book. They'll succeed for 3 years but likely be an underproducer long term. Their system is sooo flawed with open offices and they do reward some underperforming brokers. I had a guy in my training class who basically did ZERO production first 12 months but super nice guy and good personality. Obviously his home office trainer loved him and so did his regional leader yet he opened literally maybe 25 accounts first 12 months and half were family. He got offered to move to St. Louis for 2 years, do the PASS program and walked into a 60mm office across the country and has been coasting ever since. He never prospects or does anything but collect trails and call from the money due list each week. Giving assets to any broker that hasn't proven themselves successful on their own in the Jones setting is not a good idea in my view. But they need to do what they think is best for the firm so I guess they'll keep doing what they're doing with open offices and assets.Actually, the best solution is to give those assets to a meeting expectations Segment 3 or 4 advisor. You are a) likely to keep more of the assets with an experienced guy and b) gain more loyalty from that Segment 3 broker and c) bump up production.
Send it in to Weddle folks.
I agree that Jones would not (and should not) give assets to someone who isn’t at least meeting expectations. Even if they are working hard, if they can’t be meeting expectations after one year, they are probably in trouble.
I was offered a 35M office a few weeks after my can-sell date. Just want to add that with 400+ households and over 600 stocks (and the cursed listoffers that come with them almost every day) a crazy BOA who quit after not getting the job as an FA, and many clients who are not happy with the last advisor, not happy with a stranger from out of town in the office (I moved for the office), not happy with their portfolios, I am super busy, stressed, and still have to work like a lunatic in order to make a living. Even with the households I took over, I opened about 100 accounts in my first year. THOSE are the people who want to work with me, and I enjoy working with the most. Of course I still make money on the existing clients, and with time I am strengthening those relationships, but I still want to prospect and work with clients that I like!! I would take the office again in a heartbeat, I'm just saying that even if you DO get assets, it's not as rosey as it might appear. And even though I was new when I got the offer, I was greatly exceeding expectations at the time and had opened a lot of accounts. I don't think I would have pulled it off if I wasn't.