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Jul 22, 2009 4:49 am
    I left EJ 6 weeks ago.   It's been going reasonably well, despite what Jones has been doing; pretty much standing in my way as much as they legally can. And maybe not so legal, like having a retired BOA come in to the office and call clients, telling them she didnt think they should leave EJ. Registered letters accusing me of taking files, which I didnt (I have heard this is pretty standard behavior for Jones). Oh, and the new FA lying to clients about what I will do with their portfolios, what my fees will be, what kind of tax problems I will cause, etc. etc.   What a sh*t heel firm EJ is. Amazing what you learn about your company when you leave. No wonder ex Jones guys hate Jones! It is truly a relief to be out from under the extremely limited investment options, the built in conflict of interest having "preferred funds" and revenue sharing creates, mediocre research and downright 1990s technology (and thats AFTER the recent upgrade).   So, Jones folks, glad you are happy. Keep nursing at that EJ titty, cause you are going to be getting less and less milk from Mama... Suck Hard, the writing is on the wall. 
Jul 22, 2009 1:03 pm

[quote=Effay]





I left EJ 6 weeks ago.



It’s been going reasonably well, despite what Jones has been doing; pretty much standing in my way as much as they legally can.

And maybe not so legal, like having a retired BOA come in to the office and call clients, telling them she didnt think they should leave EJ.

Registered letters accusing me of taking files, which I didnt (I have heard this is pretty standard behavior for Jones).

Oh, and the new FA lying to clients about what I will do with their portfolios, what my fees will be, what kind of tax problems I will cause, etc. etc.



What a sh*t heel firm EJ is. Amazing what you learn about your company when you leave. No wonder ex Jones guys hate Jones!

It is truly a relief to be out from under the extremely limited investment options, the built in conflict of interest having “preferred funds” and revenue sharing creates, mediocre research and downright 1990s technology (and thats AFTER the recent upgrade).



So, Jones folks, glad you are happy. Keep nursing at that EJ titty, cause you are going to be getting less and less milk from Mama… Suck Hard, the writing is on the wall. [/quote]



Let it all out man. It helps.
Jul 22, 2009 1:07 pm

Did you not expect them to try and retain their clients while you tried to steal them? Do you need a blankie?

  I hope in 2.5 years if I leave Jone's I'm not back here bitching about them playing hardball with me.  MAN up brother ... and best of luck!  I hope you kill it.
Jul 22, 2009 1:15 pm

Kind of related…but i was wondering (since you brought it up) about the ‘preferred funds.’  At EJ, are you allowed to invest in those in ERISA and individual retirement accounts?

Jul 22, 2009 1:21 pm

[quote=voltmoie]

Did you not expect them to try and retain their clients while you tried to steal them? Do you need a blankie?





I hope in 2.5 years if I leave Jone’s I’m not back here bitching about them playing hardball with me. MAN up brother … and best of luck! I hope you kill it.[/quote]



The only reason you won’t bitch about them playing hardball is because you said you hope you won’t be.



I think he is talking about underhanded methods that Jones uses. They try to use their pet law firm to intimidate you, and the advisor who takes over your branch talks about things he knows nothing about, “He’s going to charge you on stuff you already paid for, like 2% or more. Why would you do that Mr. Client. We’ve got this great advisory solutions program, let’s put you in that. It’ll only cost 1.3% per year!”.



If you leave volt, you’ll see. It’s not about needing a blankie, it’s about doing the right thing, which they don’t do.
Jul 22, 2009 3:17 pm
Wet_Blanket:

Kind of related…but i was wondering (since you brought it up) about the ‘preferred funds.’  At EJ, are you allowed to invest in those in ERISA and individual retirement accounts?

  There are no restrictions on those or any other fund families.  It is open architecture.  We have selling agreements with like 70 fund families (plus another 20 or so others in our advisory program).  I sell a mix of preferred and non-preferred funds.  I only use the the preferred funds that I like.  I have never once had any pushback on any specific fund family I have used outside of the prefered funds.  All Compliance cares about is that they are sold properly.  And we are slowly (actually quickly) moving away from the "preferred funds" world.  I think Weddle wants to distance himself from some of the "errors" of the past.  This is just one thing among many that he appears to be changing.
Jul 22, 2009 3:22 pm
B24:

[quote=Wet_Blanket]Kind of related…but i was wondering (since you brought it up) about the ‘preferred funds.’  At EJ, are you allowed to invest in those in ERISA and individual retirement accounts?

  There are no restrictions on those or any other fund families.  It is open architecture.  We have selling agreements with like 70 fund families (plus another 20 or so others in our advisory program).  I sell a mix of preferred and non-preferred funds.  I only use the the preferred funds that I like.  I have never once had any pushback on any specific fund family I have used outside of the prefered funds.  All Compliance cares about is that they are sold properly.  And we are slowly (actually quickly) moving away from the "preferred funds" world.  I think Weddle wants to distance himself from some of the "errors" of the past.  This is just one thing among many that he appears to be changing.[/quote]   On a firm level, not a FA level, is there any compensation from the preferred funds to EJ (like a pay to play arrangement)?
Jul 22, 2009 4:48 pm

Yes, there is still a revenue sharing agreement in place with the preferred funds. 

  I haven't pulled up our mutual fund spreadsheet in a while, until yesterday.  I noticed that there is no longer a separate spreadsheet for our preferred funds and our non preferred funds that we follow.  It's all lumped under one.  I think that echoes what B24 was saying about moving away from the preferred funds.  I don't know that it means that we are moving away from revenue sharing, but it's certainly a step in the right direction. 
Jul 22, 2009 4:58 pm

Seems to me that EJ may want to run this by an ERISA lawyer…if they haven’t already.  Good for them for going away from that though.

Jul 22, 2009 5:23 pm

I think that has been done, and the answer is, as long as it is disclosed properly.  All of Jones’ disclosures now meet the requirements of IRA/FINRA/SEC, etc.

  On a sidenote, almost all major firms have the same type of revenue-sharing arrangements with fund families.  It is not specific to Jones.
Jul 22, 2009 5:50 pm

I’m not arguing against revenue sharing, I’m just scratching my head about revenue sharing and ERISA accounts (because of the level fee requirement).

Jul 22, 2009 7:18 pm

I work for a major wirehouse.

 Recently a new advisor moved to our office. I asked him where he came from and he said "I sold American Funds for 15 years". I said, "oh, you were the American Funds guy?" and he smiled and said "No, I worked for Ed Jones!"
Jul 22, 2009 7:32 pm
Wet_Blanket:

[quote=B24][quote=Wet_Blanket]Kind of related…but i was wondering (since you brought it up) about the ‘preferred funds.’  At EJ, are you allowed to invest in those in ERISA and individual retirement accounts?

  There are no restrictions on those or any other fund families.  It is open architecture.  We have selling agreements with like 70 fund families (plus another 20 or so others in our advisory program).  I sell a mix of preferred and non-preferred funds.  I only use the the preferred funds that I like.  I have never once had any pushback on any specific fund family I have used outside of the prefered funds.  All Compliance cares about is that they are sold properly.  And we are slowly (actually quickly) moving away from the "preferred funds" world.  I think Weddle wants to distance himself from some of the "errors" of the past.  This is just one thing among many that he appears to be changing.[/quote]   On a firm level, not a FA level, is there any compensation from the preferred funds to EJ (like a pay to play arrangement)?[/quote]   I have heard from what I consider a reliable source that the revenue sharing bit is compensation for a lot of the "back office" work we do for those preferred funds since we do a lot of volume with a lot of different orders.
Jul 22, 2009 7:38 pm

They pay for the diversification trips… Rumor has it that Calamos wanted in but they refused to pay the amount Jones wanted to be on the preferred list.

Jul 23, 2009 12:52 am

I will echo what was said earlier. I have sold both preferred and non

preferred funds in my career at EDJ. I have never had any kickback from

anyone about selling nonpreffered funds, nor have I ever been pressured

to sell funds on the preferred list.

Jul 23, 2009 3:26 am

[quote=Effay]

    I left EJ 6 weeks ago.   It's been going reasonably well, despite what Jones has been doing; pretty much standing in my way as much as they legally can. And maybe not so legal, like having a retired BOA come in to the office and call clients, telling them she didnt think they should leave EJ. Registered letters accusing me of taking files, which I didnt (I have heard this is pretty standard behavior for Jones). Oh, and the new FA lying to clients about what I will do with their portfolios, what my fees will be, what kind of tax problems I will cause, etc. etc.   What a sh*t heel firm EJ is. Amazing what you learn about your company when you leave. No wonder ex Jones guys hate Jones! It is truly a relief to be out from under the extremely limited investment options, the built in conflict of interest having "preferred funds" and revenue sharing creates, mediocre research and downright 1990s technology (and thats AFTER the recent upgrade).   So, Jones folks, glad you are happy. Keep nursing at that EJ titty, cause you are going to be getting less and less milk from Mama... Suck Hard, the writing is on the wall. [/quote]

Okay, that does it.  I gotta call Jones and rescind my agreement.  No offense to the Jones guys here who love the company, but I am now 100% sure this isn't for me.  As I started the employment process, I have had to deal with:
Training people changing my start date without telling me Most local FA's giving me bad/contradicting advice about good office location (to get me out of their backyards) Market Area analyst refusing to tell me what areas are available and refusing to tell me geographical boundaries (I had to guess area names and he would only say "yes" or "no")
RL refusing to take my calls because he is "too busy and will call me back later" (I have been waiting by the phone for over 3 weeks) Received a call from the RL's BOA saying he's too busy to schedule my welcome dinner with just me, so I'll have to wait for other people to start so he can "get us all out of the way at one time" I know that no firm is perfect, but if this is the honeymoon period, I hate to see what it's like after I start.  This combined with the multiple posts here about terrible experiences has me deeply concerned.  The thought of being stuck somewhere for three years followed by a nasty departure doesn't sound fun.

I made the mistake of signing the Jones contract... but it's all predicated on the assumption that I actually start working for the company.  I wonder what they will do when I quit before I ever start.  I'd like to see them try and sue me for $75,000 for training costs even though I never worked a day for them.  Based on this forum, it sounds like something they would do.

I was going to hold onto Jones while I am waiting for an offer from MSSB, but the more I think about it, I don't think I want to go to Jones even if MSSB rejects me.

Jul 23, 2009 3:31 am

Don’t let the door hit you… I’ll bet anyone on here a beer you’ll fail in 12 months piker.  There is not a person at Jones that will give two sh*ts you’ve “rescinded” your offer.

In fact, e-mail me your contact information and I’ll do it for you.

Jul 23, 2009 3:47 am

[quote=voltmoie] Don’t let the door hit you… I’ll bet anyone on here a beer you’ll fail in 12 months piker. There is not a person at Jones that will give two sh*ts you’ve “rescinded” your offer. In fact, e-mail me your contact information and I’ll do it for you.

[/quote]



I’ll take the bet. Even if he fails, he’s got balls for resigning before knowing if he has another job. I’ll back him.



The type of behavior that Jones exhibits is reprehensible in this case. Great company in a lot of ways, but they are jerks when you leave.

Jul 23, 2009 3:52 am

[quote=Moraen] [quote=voltmoie] Don’t let the door hit you… I’ll bet anyone on here a beer you’ll fail in 12 months piker.  There is not a person at Jones that will give two sh*ts you’ve “rescinded” your offer. In fact, e-mail me your contact information and I’ll do it for you.

[/quote]



I’ll take the bet. Even if he fails, he’s got balls for resigning before knowing if he has another job. I’ll back him.



The type of behavior that Jones exhibits is reprehensible in this case. Great company in a lot of ways, but they are jerks when you leave. [/quote]

Cool … six pack of some regional brew sent to the other. 

No doubt they are jerks from our point of view but from their point of view … they are protecting their interests.  Lot’s of costs with an office empty and a BOA potentially without a job.  I do get a kick out of their bragging about sending out a letter to clients though, that’s classic.

Don’t worry Jones, I will be sending out my very own letter when and if I leave



Jul 23, 2009 5:39 am

Now wait a minute!  If a six pack is exchanged, I deserve to get one of those beers either way.  If I succeed, I deserve I victory beer.  If I fail, I need a beer to drown my sorrows.