Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P., since 1995 simplified as Edward Jones is a financial services firm headquartered in Des Peres, Missouri which serves investment clients in the United States and Canada, through its branch network of more than 12,000 locations. The firm focuses solely on individual investors and small-business owners. Edward Jones is a limited partnership owned only by its employees and retired employees and is not publicly traded.

Business model

Edward Jones financial advisors sell commission-based and fee-based financial products. Offices are usually staffed by two associates: one Financial Advisor (see Financial Advisor, a licensed broker) and one Branch Office Administrator. The one-broker-per-office model allows clients to choose their broker directly and deal with just that broker. This model also allows the firm to open offices in areas and towns where a large office staffed by many brokers would be unprofitable. This model is also the reason that Edward Jones currently has the largest number of branch offices among brokerage firms in the United States.

Awards and rankings

Designated the firm with “Highest in Investor Satisfaction” by J.D. Power and Associates in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010.
In Canada also Designated the firm with “Highest in Investor Satisfaction” by J.D. Power and Associates in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Edward Jones ranked No. 1 in the annual Smart Money magazine full-service brokerage survey. The firm received high marks in the four categories surveyed by the magazine: stock picking, customer satisfaction, trust and customer statements. Edward Jones, which also ranked No. 1 in 2007 and 2005, received five-star ratings in client statements.
Named, for the tenth year, one of the “Best Companies to Work for in America” by Fortune magazine in its annual listing. The firm took the No. 2 spot overall in the ranking (2009). The firm also was named to the No. 1 spot for large companies. The ten FORTUNE rankings include top 10 finishes for seven years and consecutive number one rankings in 2002 and 2003.
Ranked No. 1 in the independent category on Investment Executive’s annual survey of brokers in 2007
Ranked among the best advocates for its customers, according to a national research study of U.S. financial-services firms by Forrester Research in 2004, 2005,2006, 2007, 2008
For the 15th consecutive year in December 2007, ranked No. 1 among the nation’s top seven brokerage firms by industry magazine Registered Representative.
Ranked #8 in Business Week magazine’s second annual list of Customer Service Excellence.
In January 2011, the Fortune magazine ranked Edward Jones as one of the best companies to work with.

History

Edward Jones was founded by Edward D. Jones in 1922. (A different Edward D. Jones was a cofounder of Dow Jones.[5]) Edward Jones’ son Edward D. “Ted” Jones was responsible for the creation of the individual branch network which has spread across rural communities and suburbs throughout the US and Canada. The first single broker office was opened by Ted, and staffed by Zeke McIntyre, in Mexico, Missouri. Ted opened another branch office in Pueblo, Colorado, with his brother-in-law Bill Lloyd as manager of the multi-broker office. When Edward D. Jones, Sr., found the teletypewriter line bill, he insisted Ted either shut the office down or find some way to pay for it. Ted Jones paid for it by opening one-broker offices on either side of the teletypewriter line stretching from St. Louis, Missouri, to Pueblo, Colorado. That is why some of the earliest Edward Jones offices were Dodge City, Hays, Great Bend, and Manhattan, Kansas and Jefferson City, Missouri. Edward Jones Investments has designated naming rights for the Edward Jones Dome in St Louis.