Jones managed accounts
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You guys that are complaining that we are bashing Jones need to keep it in perspective.
After Jones bashed us for leaving, tried to ruin our reputations, sued us for non-compete clauses that were questionable at best and tried to make our lives a living hell because we didn’t believe in the A share only philosophy what do you expect?
We are going to laugh at you for finally moving up and attempting to join the 20th century. We are going to have a certain amount of “I told you so” in our attitudes. And I for one am proud of the options I can offer my clients. There is a world of investment products out there that carry less risk and equal or higher returns than your standard mutual fund. And I am not talking about annuities (whoever it was that made that comment the other day). Shoot an Index Linked CD carries no downside risk under 100k, since it is principal protected, and the upside of the market. No you guys will never see a trail, or any revenue sharing (an appalling practice in my opinion) but you might make a happy client and it is something that can go into a true managed account.
As for leasing, private placement, etc… As long as you know what you are doing, they are fine investments for the right clientele. If you can’t offer them then you have no business dealing with more affluent clients. It’s not like you can 1031 into a traded REIT or a mutual fund or do any of the other tax planning techniques needed in that market.
My rant is done. I only post on here about once every couple of months and then I get stuck coming back several times a day for a week to see what’s going on.
I appreciate conversations like this. learned lots about Jones and makes my descion to possibly join Jones a lot easier.
Mostly just tired of the self-righteous. I’ve never been a big funds guy since long term the numbers back up buying and hold multi-nationals if that is your bent. As for the repackaged “crap”, many of them are designed to benefit the client by moderating risk. Some are in fact sales angles, but the mutual fund industry is just as guilty when they bring out a new fund every month (exaggeration). Consider what carpenters must have thought when compound mitre saws came out and they had to get rid of the standard manual mitre saw. One is just plain more effective. New things are not always bad, sometimes they have tremendous benefits.
You could probably take care of clients with 1 fund family, least the majority of them. But someone will offer them something you do not have access to and the odds of them leaving increases. It is alot easier telling someone a specific product is “no good” if in fact you can actually offer it. Jones will be getting these WRAP accounts or whatever they call them and their advisors will be able to still say A shares are better, and now it is not because it is all they offer.
good point, but I can tell you that my last Jones auditor told me that they know they over emphasized Ashares in the past. One of the new compliance talking points is to be sure that other share classes are not automatically discounted. Of course the conflicts of interest…never mind.
Jones should be applauded for seeing the error of there ways. Bravo.
Still way behind, but moving in the right direction. I agree that most people would be FINE with plain investments. Many could be better with SOME other types of investments. Many of those other types SUCK. Be carful what you put people in. Jones gave me my start in this business and for that I will always be grateful. The Jones brokers in my area are sure high on themselves and need to get over it. JONES' METHOD (HIRING A MILLION BROKERS AND NOT DISCLOSING THE RISKS TO THESE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO CLUE WHAT THEIR ODDS ARE) BORDERS ON CRIMINAL IN MY OPINION. I SAW WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE BURN THROUGH LARGE AMTS OF SAVINGS AND CREDIT CARDS ONLY TO FAIL OUT AND GO BACK TO THEIR OLD JOB. THIS IS MY BIGGEST BEEF WITH EDJ. I HOPE A BUNCH OF THESE FAILED BROKERS START A CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT SOMEDAY.NewIndy-
Sounds like your experience leaving jones was similar to mine and many others around the nation. It's unbelievable how ugly jones gets when you leave. I was actually called and told that I was a bad parent because I chose to move on by a very high-up St Louis person. I pointed out that he was only making personal insults and we could move the discussion to a point by point business comparison..he hung up on me.[quote=new_indy] You guys that are complaining that we are bashing Jones need to keep it in perspective. After Jones bashed us for leaving, tried to ruin our reputations, sued us for non-compete clauses that were questionable at best and tried to make our lives a living hell because we didn’t believe in the A share only philosophy what do you expect? We are going to laugh at you for finally moving up and attempting to join the 20th century. We are going to have a certain amount of “I told you so” in our attitudes. And I for one am proud of the options I can offer my clients. There is a world of investment products out there that carry less risk and equal or higher returns than your standard mutual fund. And I am not talking about annuities (whoever it was that made that comment the other day). Shoot an Index Linked CD carries no downside risk under 100k, since it is principal protected, and the upside of the market. No you guys will never see a trail, or any revenue sharing (an appalling practice in my opinion) but you might make a happy client and it is something that can go into a true managed account. As for leasing, private placement, etc… As long as you know what you are doing, they are fine investments for the right clientele. If you can’t offer them then you have no business dealing with more affluent clients. It’s not like you can 1031 into a traded REIT or a mutual fund or do any of the other tax planning techniques needed in that market.My rant is done. I only post on here about once every couple of months and then I get stuck coming back several times a day for a week to see what’s going on.
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New, I can’t argue with the way you, and others were treated. I have not witnessed it in my region. But that is primarily because we are a young region, and most of the people that have left were either non-producers (new/new’s or 5-7 year “slackers”). We honestly have had no real producers leave.
But, it actually bothers me that Jones does this. If we are so “great” to work for, we shouldn’t have to resort to silly tactics.
Anyway, I guess I’m just not interested in dealing with products any more exotic than stocks, bonds, funds, etf’s, CD’s, annuities, etc. Maybe I’m just a simple guy working for a simple firm (at least half of that statement is true!). But I don’t blame anyone for using them if they work for their clients.
JONES’ METHOD (HIRING A MILLION BROKERS AND NOT DISCLOSING THE RISKS TO THESE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO CLUE WHAT THEIR ODDS ARE) BORDERS ON CRIMINAL IN MY OPINION. I SAW WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE BURN THROUGH LARGE AMTS OF SAVINGS AND CREDIT CARDS ONLY TO FAIL OUT AND GO BACK TO THEIR OLD JOB. THIS IS MY BIGGEST BEEF WITH EDJ. I HOPE A BUNCH OF THESE FAILED BROKERS START A CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT SOMEDAY.
See, this is unfortunately the case across the entire industry. How many brokers fail out at ML or SB or MS every year? I have a buddy in a very large Merrill office that has seen, literally, hundreds of brokers fail out in his 10 or so years - JUST IN HIS BRANCH. It is not limited just to Jones. That's just a misconception.
[quote=Broker24]
See, this is unfortunately the case across the entire industry. How many brokers fail out at ML or SB or MS every year? I have a buddy in a very large Merrill office that has seen, literally, hundreds of brokers fail out in his 10 or so years - JUST IN HIS BRANCH. It is not limited just to Jones. That’s just a misconception.[/quote]
I agree. I’m no EDJ fan but this certainly isn’t unique to EDJ. This is an industry wide problem.
I obviously can’t speak for others, but I was hardly a washout. I still have my sill Pacesetters print stuck behind my sofa. Someday I will find a nice print to put in the very nice frame… The difference with Jones is that other firms, I would imagine, don’t build up the cult like atmosphere. As such they don’t feel like you’ve broken some sacred trust by leaving them. Jones just gets plain vindictive.
Maybe I’m naive because I haven’t joined EJ yet, but as I read through their prospecting requirements, I think to myself, how can you not succeed??? Do reps fail because of the products or is it because their not prospecting to their full potential???
I was a success at jones. I had to leave because the lack of products crippled me and I was losing the largest, most profitable clients to indy reps. Also, long term, I had no way to sell my book when I retire.
I would not recommend anyone go to jones. Jones is VERY cultic. I cannot emphasize this enough. It's difficult to explain this jonesism. You just have to trust us on this. Cults have common traits, i.e., everyone else is wrong and only we do it right. Isolation-when jones found out that Lord Abbott invited our region to a mixer with other reps from other B/Ds, we all got FRANTIC phone calls from St Louis telling us that we were not allowed to fraternize with other firms and if we attend we would be "dealt with". What were they afraid of? Would we compare business models and find that jones might not be the right fit? At the time I too was convinced that jones was holier and purer than everyone else. Didn't take long though to see that this trait of "isolation" is one of the many signs you are in an insecure company.[quote=lambda]Maybe I’m naive because I haven’t joined EJ yet, but as I read through their prospecting requirements, I think to myself, how can you not succeed??? Do reps fail because of the products or is it because their not prospecting to their full potential???[/quote]
If that is your main question, you’re not “maybe” naive - you’re are naive.
How can you not succeed? The prospecting requirements are much harder than they sound. What they cannot and do not accurately convey is the effect of repeated rejection has on your morale. This causes you to reinvent the wheel (find a new better way to prospect) or find prospect avoidance techniques that still make it seem as if you are working. This is how most new brokers fail. Lack of product rarely has anything to do with new brokers failing because the majority of new brokers are selling A shares and annuities which is available anywhere.
You see trhe prospecting requirements for ONE DAY and think: “no problem”. But it is day after day after day-- dogs barking and licking, sweating hands trying to write legibly, it rains and snows, 15 houses in a row seem to HATE to see you…most people cannot handle it, so for me it was a point of pride the worse it got…so I succeeded.
[quote=lambda]Maybe I’m naive because I haven’t joined EJ yet, but as I read through their prospecting requirements, I think to myself, how can you not succeed??? Do reps fail because of the products or is it because their not prospecting to their full potential???[/quote]
If that is your main question, you’re not “maybe” naive - you’re are naive.
Okay Lambda…Now that you know the prospecting method, sign on with an independent firm or an interdependent firm. Get 70-90%. Why go to jones? Many regional firms will train you and pay you 50-70%. Once you are up and running they will bump you to 70-90%.
Think hard on this. It's a tough business. It's alot tougher when you gross 25k and your net pay is a paltry $6200. After taxes, after YOU PAY for newsletters, half of your seminar costs, etc., not much left for you. I still have a paystub I keep. While at jones I grossed nearly 70,000 in one month. Top of paystub was 25K, net to me, just a hair over 15k. Ugh! My naivity QUICKLY wore off. Lambda-Look elsewhere before you sign.