“Almost everyone welcomes the gay dollar,” said Paul Leone, president of the Central Massachusetts Business Council, a “gay-friendly” business group with 80 dues-paying members.

The group, which has both gay and straight-owned businesses, has signed up such mainstream local institutions as Sovereign Bank and Edward Jones Investments.

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050515/ NEWS/505150671/1116

Monica and Mimi Royston of Oxford, who were married in June, are shown with their dogs, Ray, left, and Ginger, splashing in the water. (T&G Staff / PAUL KAPTEYN)

As gays and lesbians and other supporters of gay marriage revel in happy celebrations Tuesday, anti-gay marriage activists say they will try to ignore the milestone.

"conservative investments since 1871"? 

Molly Maid honored at convention
SAN MARCOS ---- Mike Gootgeld, owner of Molly Maid of San Marcos, was recognized as a member of the President's Circle at the Molly Maid national convention held April 14 to16 in Miami.

Rasoul wins RE/MAX award
POWAY ---- Sam Rasoul of Carmel Mountain Ranch has won the RE/MAX Associates' 2004 Sales Associate of the Year award.

Peterson receives award
VISTA ---- Edward Jones investment representative Brad Peterson of Vista has received the Managing Partner's Award for the past year.

Farmers agent honored

SAN DIEGO ---- Farmers Insurance District 56 of San Diego County announced its selection of agent Mike Davis of Mike Davis Insurance, Escondido, as its Fire Agent of the Year for 2004.

Today's franchise news....

Evacuating the Capitol
Greenwood Commonwealth - Greenwood,MS,USA
... "A guard came in and said, 'You have to evacuate the building - now!'" said Spiller, an Edward Jones investment representative, said by cell phone from the ...

Run! Incoming Plane!
KIFI - Idaho Falls,ID,USA
... Group. We were there to lobby the Senate and the Congress.". Behunin works for Edward Jones in Idaho Falls and goes down to Washington DC yearly. ...

Local businessman caught up in emergency situation
Watertown Daily Times - Watertown,WI,USA
Chuck Warriner, who has an Edward Jones office in Watertown, was among those evacuated Wednesday from the US Capitol Building due to an emergency alert when an ...

Local man in Capitol at evacuation
Lebanon Daily Record - Lebanon,MO,USA
... Jim Kueny is a member of the Edward Jones Grassroots Task Force and is in Washington, DC, for the organization's yearly lobbying trip. ...

Local man joins Capitol dash
Ann Arbor News - Ann Arbor,MI,USA
... "The way he said it, it could have been a fire drill or routine evacuation," said Crause, an investment representative at the Edward Jones Investments office ...

An elite fighting force of stockbrokers were on the front lines of the war on terror this week, however, shortages of sticky notes and hair gel continue to plague these patriots as Home Office budgets tighten. 

Jonestown you forgot this article,

Brokerage numbers reflect shift in client relationship

By Jack Naudi

< =1.1 src=“http://OAS-Central.RealMedia.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.stltoday.com/business/front/1984144026@1” =text/>

 But the last 25 years have seen a dramatic surge in fee-based brokerage accounts, where there are no commissions. Instead, a broker is paid by taking a percentage of a client's assets - typically from 1 percent to 2 percent annually.

Today, more than a third of stock brokerage revenues nationwide come from fee-based accounts. Twenty-five years ago, just 3 percent came from fees, with the rest coming from commissions.

"It really is based on client demand," said Justin Gioia, who heads investor relations for A.G. Edwards. "What we have seen is a natural migration of clients who prefer diversified investments in accounts paying on a fee basis."

Commission brokerage has been criticized for depending more on trading than on the success of individual customers. Under fee-based management, the more money clients earn, the more a broker makes.

"It puts us on the same side of the table with the client," said Howard Loiterstein, senior vice president for Wachovia Securities in west St. Louis County.

While there is nothing wrong with commissions, fee-based accounts provide clients with an important alternative, said Ronald Kruszewski, chairman, president and chief executive of Stifel Financial Corp. of St. Louis, the parent company of Stifel Nicolaus.

"The rationale (for fee-based accounts) is that your financial adviser should not be paid for the transaction, but for ongoing advice," Kruszewski said. "If you take a holistic approach, you can understand why a fee would be preferable."

Brokers at established firms typically work with both commission and fee-based clients. But many independent brokers have moved from commission to fee-only businesses.

For David Fingerhut, principal at Financial Legacy Associates in Chesterfield, making that shift gave him flexibility he didn't have while earning commissions for a large brokerage.

"We got pressure to move certain types of (mutual) funds," he said. "I was frustrated for years that we couldn't use some of the good no-load (mutual fund) families, because we couldn't get paid."

At his firm, the financial equation is different because he doesn't have to make trades just to earn income.

"It opens up the whole world," Fingerhut said.

The fee-based business isn't for everybody, especially small investors. Most brokerages require a minimum balance of $25,000 for fee accounts. Accounts smaller than that wouldn't generate enough revenue, the brokers say.

At Des Peres-based Edward Jones, which caters to very small investors, fee-based accounts are not offered.

"We are well aware that many in our industry are moving toward fee-based compensation," Douglas Hill, Edward Jones' managing partner said in an e-mail response. "However, we serve ... the serious, long-term investor who buys quality securities, holds them over time and does not trade frequently. With that in mind, we continue to believe that the fairest and most transparent form of compensation is the payment of a commission on each transaction."

For investors who rarely trade and don't need much advice, a fee-based account makes little sense.

Indeed, brokerages that put such clients into fee accounts can run afoul of regulators. Last month, the National Association of Securities Dealers, the industry's self-policing arm, fined Raymond James & Associates Inc. $750,000 and ordered the firm to pay $138,000 in restitution for "reverse churning."

Churning involves brokers earning large commissions by unnecessarily trading their clients' assets. Reverse churning involves brokers who earn large fees from clients who get very little advice and do almost no trading.

Trying to define reverse churning has some brokers concerned.

"You do have to be careful in getting paid and not doing anything for the client," Fingerhut said. His firm has periodic reviews with all clients, and documents the work done for each one. The move toward fee-based accounts reflects a change from brokers as stock traders to trusted advisers.

"Someone who literally goes cradle to well past grave," said Frank Fernandez, chief economist and director of research for the Securities Industry Association.

That model fits with the fee-based business, where a premium is placed on advice and expertise, he said.

That premium is starting to show up prominently at brokerages.

Five years ago, more than half of A.G. Edwards' revenues came from commissions and less than a fifth from fees. In the most recent quarter, 40 percent came from commissions and 36 percent from fees.

In that quarter, commission revenues fell 9.6 percent, while fee-based revenues rose 16.8 percent. Stifel reported similar numbers.

The strength of the fee business during a period when the market struggled gives hope to brokerages trying to break free of the vagaries of the stock market.

"The fee-based trend is one that has been very positive to the industry and very positive to A.G. Edwards," Gioia said.

Reduced revenues

Revenues have fallen recently for the brokerage industry nationally. Here's how the St. Louis area's three largest full-service brokerage firms have fared.

* Edward Jones: Bucking the industry trend, the firm reported increased revenues and profit for the first quarter ended March 24, compared with the same period last year. It did so despite a 3.6 percent decline in commissions. The firm does not have fee-based accounts.

* A.G. Edwards: For the quarter ended Feb. 28, the firm reported an industry-beating 1 percent decline in revenues over 2004. A 17 percent increase in fee business helped.

* Stifel Nicolaus: After a record 2004, the firm reported an 11 percent decline in revenues for the quarter ended March 31. A big drop in commissions was to blame. Things would have been worse had fee revenues not increased nearly 10 percent.

Jones Bashers take note:



1. The first 4 months of this year were Edward Jones’ strongest 4 month period ever. EVER!



2. They came in first in the JD Power Survey for customer satisfaction, remember the survey was done in January and February of this year. (Wouldn’t you agree the customer is our most important critic?)



3. They were ranked the number one company to work for in Hawaii.



4. Edward Jones LP has paid annualized return of 22% so far this year.



5. They are in the 40% bonus bracket. (The highest ever was 50% in the late 90’s and early 2000.)



I can see why so many reps who have left Edward Jones are so mad. If I left Edward Jones, I would be mad too. Wouldn’t you?   



BPD



________________________________________

The grass is GREENER where you water it!

Torres, in his mid- to late-40s, came to Moraga in 1996 and worked for Edward Jones & Co. and at Corporate Securities Group, a division of Wachovia Corp. He then sold stocks for SunAmerica Securities from 1998 until August 2004, when he was discharged due to a pending investigation.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states /california/counties/alameda_county/11612484.htm

"J.D. Powers, have I got some satisfied customers for you"

IDA fines Hugh Cairns Bell $30,000, imposes 12 months close supervision

Mr. Bell was employed at Edward Jones from March 29, 2002 until his
resignation for cause on May 1, 2003. 

In addition, Mr. Bell acknowledged in the Agreed Statement of Facts that during the period of December 2002 and April 2003, he forged the signature of three clients

http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/May2005/06/c5741.html

"Can J.D. get a man up to Canada, we got some frenchies that ain't real happy with these missouri boyz"

hey candy bar!

Why is it that there are more of your firm bashers on this forum who post longer on this forum then those who are on the "kool-aid"?

Tom Petruno

With virtually the same post in at least 3 places, I feel confident that the main thing BPD has learned at Jones is how to cut and paste.

Ed Jones 654



Clarify what do you mean when you say:



"Why is it that there are more of your firm bashers on this forum who post longer on this forum then those who are on the “kool-aid”?



BPD

candy bar,

Do you understand why the term kool-aid is used when we on the "dark side"    describe those who are mindless at your firm?

[quote=BigPayDay]Jones Bashers take note:

1. The first 4 months of this year were Edward Jones' strongest 4 month period ever. EVER!

2. They came in first in the JD Power Survey for customer satisfaction, remember the survey was done in January and February of this year. (Wouldn't you agree the customer is our most important critic?)

3. They were ranked the number one company to work for in Hawaii.

4. Edward Jones LP has paid annualized return of 22% so far this year.

5. They are in the 40% bonus bracket. (The highest ever was 50% in the late 90's and early 2000.)

I can see why so many reps who have left Edward Jones are so mad. If I left Edward Jones, I would be mad too. Wouldn't you?   

BPD

________________________________________
The grass is GREENER where you water it![/quote]

Sounds like all that makes up for having an office in a strip mall next to the Subway sandwich shop and having minimal skills and tools to met a client's needs beyond them there three mutual funds...

Can someone who is not from Jones please tell me, why Jones has had all of the accolades like the “best place to work” and the JD Power piece. I mean if they are that backwards and have no clue what’s going on in the industry, why the good press?

I'm not at Jones, but I did have one of their pinheads try to recruit me about three years ago.  I went to his office to see what the hype was about.  After he showed me their cutting edge technology, massive product array and generous payout schedule, I laughed in his face.  I didn't want to, I know it's rude, but I couldn't help myself.  Anyone coming from indy or a reputable wirehouse would have to be a complete imbicile to go to Edward Jones, and complete imbiciles are rare.  (I must concede that after reading some of the posts here by ChumpChange and others from Jones, that imbiciles are not as rare as I previously thought.)

But again, why do they get good press (other then here)?

They were ranked the number one company to work for in Hawaii.





-----------------------------------------------------

I know the ex Jonesers were furious when they heard this news.

Not being in Hawaii, I don’t know nor do I care.

Again, why if Jones is so jacked up do they get good press?

koolaid kids (their irs are as close to being brainwashed like a moonie) who promote whatever they are told by their regional leaders or trainers as it were the gospel (hence why so many employees are close to being evangelical).

The Marketing department has "targets" regarding how many times the firm is in the press.  Additionally most of the "best to work for" lists are "unique" in that the firm (EJ) nominates themselves and encourages survey takers to "do the right thing" when it comes to evaluating their employer.

but those are my opinions

xej1984, so you are saying the Jones is able to generate it's own good press.

And thay do this by having the regional leaders or trainers promote the firm to the IRs (brainwash the IRs).

Also the Marketing department picks the employes that they want to take the survey. So they get good results.

If it were that easy why wouldn't more firms do this just for the good press, I sure other firms would be able to blow Jones out of the water, true.