I used to work for Jones and now I work for a wirehouse. I can say that some of the statistics are misleading. Just because you are a seg 4 or seg 5 does not mean you still hit those numbers. I had several Seg4/5 guys in my region doing actual seg 3 numbers because of account attrition or they just had a really good trimester to get the numbers in the first place.

I specifically left Jones because of the lack of annuitized platforms. Based on the type of client I was most comfortable attracting and prospecting Jones' model wasn't ideal for what I was trying to accomplish.

That being said, Jones was a fine place to work. What they do and how they do it is ideal for most individual investors. And, Jones' payout is superior to any wire payout if you are under a 200k gross producer. The model works for the type of client they are geared for and the type of FA that works well with those clients. If you become (or strive for) a 500k+ production standard the wires have better payouts. It's all personal preference.

As for the Advisory Solutions advisory platform. It's ok, but it's not better than the wire I'm at now. I have alot more options.

I will say, that with the consolidation of banks/wires Jones is at a more competitive disadvantage for upper end clients than before due to the ancillary services Wires can provide now.

Well, I'm not a Jones guy and I have no clue what the segments you are referencing are. I can tell you that in the class I started with two and a half years ago there are a handful left. I think that newbie trainees have an attrition rate of 90+%. In my short tenure I have seen quite a few come and go. I'm the only one that offers a helping hand to them without showing my fangs and most will pass. I would have latched on big time had someone offered me a hand at first. The ones that say cold calling doesn't work are all gone. I've heard that the entire industry has negative growth in its workforce for the last decade.

It's one hard gig to get off the ground.

I was amazed when I came over to a wire and heard the new guys talking about how cold calling doesn't work, seminars don't work, cold-walking doesn't work, nothing works. At the same time I would see almost all of them come in at 10 am and leave by 4pm. The bottom line is that all of it works if you do enough of it.

I even called a couple of them out on the fact that I built a book at Jones by knocking on freakin' doors and it worked. Of course they had excuse after excuse. Low and behold most of them are no longer there.

For some reason our industry really attacts alot of people that complain alot and have very poor work ethics. Then again, that's pretty representative of the population as a whole. In fact, it's pretty representative of many of the people on this board.

I think you're right AND wrong.  I don't think it attracts people with a poor work ethic.  I think the problem is that most of them would work a LOT harder, if it was work they LIKED.  Most people don't like what most of us consider "demeaning" sales work.  It's hard, it's tedious, it can be degrading, and you get tons of rejection.  A lot of people (myself included) worked like dogs in previous careers.  But the work seemed more like "work"....prospecting retail clients is different than virtually any other form of work out there.  I think THAT'S the disconnect.  You just can't explain to someone what it is like to prospect retail clients.  Even prospecting business clients (institutional) is different - it seems more "professional". 

Too many FA's come into the business with rose-colored glasses, thinking it is going to be about "the close" and "planning".  In reality, in the first 5-7 years, it's ALL about prospecting and selling.  And once that reality sets in (in addition to the lack of income and the constant hurdles), I think it really gets to a lot of people.

I think you hit it on the head.  I don't think anyone LIKES the work, but it becomes a means to an end.  That end is pretty good!  Most rookies that roll in now like the IDEA of being an Advisor, but the job is mundane and when their shortcuts do not work, they actually slow their roll, work less and less and eventually "excuse" themselves out.  I have been at this over a decade and find myself recruiting fewer and fewer people to do it BECAUSE of their lack of effort.  

What I find really funny are the folks who quit EDJ after two years and flock to a bank, like that is a picnic!!  As someone once told me, "If this job were easy, everyone in the world would make $150 a year!"