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Kinder, Gentler JONES?

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May 19, 2008 2:14 pm
donatello:

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. 
May 19, 2008 6:18 pm

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.

May 19, 2008 6:53 pm

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.
May 19, 2008 7:49 pm

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!
May 19, 2008 8:15 pm

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.         
May 19, 2008 9:59 pm

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.
May 19, 2008 10:14 pm

[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)    
May 19, 2008 10:31 pm
NOLA_Advisor:

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.

  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.     
May 19, 2008 10:38 pm

[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.


May 19, 2008 10:50 pm

[quote=CIBforeveryone]

[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]



Is this stuff never encountered by brokers at ML, MS, SB, UBS, et al?





May 20, 2008 12:26 am

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.

May 20, 2008 2:55 pm

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.   
May 21, 2008 2:42 am

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.

May 21, 2008 1:59 pm

Newsflash - Jones is a kissing cousin to a wirehouse.

  Spiff-   Without a doubt the dumbest comment you have ever made on these forums.
May 21, 2008 2:17 pm

Why? 

May 22, 2008 12:49 am

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.

May 23, 2008 1:50 am

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.