Edward Jones people- I'm talking to the ones that didn't drink the Kool-aid but were still proud to say you worked at Jones. I feel like we have been infiltrated by the enemy. Like what happens when African bees take over the regular hive. We are being infiltrated by New York and San Francisco people. FA'S please use your voices. Headquarters is trying to give you good service but we are slowly being replaced.
6 replies (most recent on top)
As a current Jones FA, I can confidently say that there has been a steady decay in the trust of Penny and her executive team. Under her “leadership” the firm has declined in every area except AUM. Under her “stewardship” the firm has gone from getting caught with its pants down during COVID in terms of operational capability and business continuity — from which it still has yet to recover — has had one disastrous technology rollout after another — in which capabilities have been net negative due to an ignorant yet slavish devotion to a dangerous sprint philosophy in which the field and live customer relationships are the beta testers of processes, tools and applications that are nowhere near ready to touch a live investor or their money — has had one knee-je-k panicky reaction after another to a slew of high performers leaving what all but the most diehard Kool Aid drinkers see as a complete cultural and market identity collapse waiting to happen, has overseen the complete decimation of Home Office support structures and personnel, all while the leadership team agrees to give each other asinine compensation packages and bonuses that simply aren’t tied to any measurable reality. As a result, Jones is now a less capable, less efficient, and less productive firm that, in an extremely anti-fiduciary policy, pushes more of its proprietary Bridge Builder mutual funds into portfolios that can absolutely wreck investors with massive potential capital gains taxes if they dare try to leave, and which tells clients that while buy and hold is the best long-term investment strategy they need to do so from within fee bases accounts that start at 1.4% a year and, gulp, are now going to be charged an additional $3,600 a year for the privilege of financial planning conducted using neutered planning software that’s stripped of almost all of its functionality because the firm doesn’t think its advisors are smart enough to have fully functioning platforms. I mean, you can’t write a movie script that would do a better job of showing a sinking ship slowly dipping beneath the water manned by a bevy of captains shouting loudly that not only is there nothing to be worried about but that you should also not believe your eyes because the ship is actually picking up speed and sailing better than ever.
And all of this combined is a recipe for disaster. Which is why so many Jones advisors are heading for the lifeboats, despite the shouting of Penny and her leadership team.
The idea of a partnership is great but HO Partnership has strayed off it's original purpose. It has become less share in the wealth and more ponzi-ish. I don't think the Ted Jones intended for the likes of Penny, Ken C, KJ, and other low-performing partners to have such a large slice of the pie. Take Cella's estimated $50 million partnership stake. If you were to take that equity and offer it to just 500 high-performing associates, think of how much goodwill that would create. Think about how much more the local economy would benefit. Instead, we have a bunch of people at the top of the pyramid that couldn't cut it at any other large company.
Great post. Perfect take. “Transformational Journey”, “Human Centered Complete Wealth Management”, and “Enterprise Reimagined” are all consultant-created fiascos, and show exactly what happens when you let a bunch of coastal MBAs into a well-functioning, very profitable company to make changes. It’s so old & tired.
What is Penny’s net worth? It has to be north of $200 million by now. Isn’t that enough for you? If not, why? Ask yourself that.
Rooms 3G & 3GG should be sealed off and fumigated given the rancid stench pouring out of meetings held there.
The death of a culture is a sad thing to live through.
This whole company is a cult. They can pay me to go.
Oh I drank the Kool-aide as a HO Associate. I belieeeeeeeeved lol. No more. It’s like a huge gut punch. Infiltrated is accurate. But by choice. Well, Penny’s choice. She is ruining a once great firm. Our branches will, unfortunately, be impacted too. This whole thing su-ks.