Q: What did you do prior to joining Edward Jones?
A: I worked at a bank, and I think that one of the frustrations was that I really didn't have enough control over my own career. I knew that what I did day to day was largely dictated by other people, and it was useful, beneficial work. I liked doing it, but I always knew there wasn’t enough benefit coming back to me in terms of my career. It was frustrating knowing that you’ll never make more money than your boss, and that’s absolutely true. So that was probably the most frustrating part: feeling that there was always a limit on what I could.
Q: What part of the training was the most helpful?
A: What I liked about the training was that it was gradual. It started with the fundamentals, not just in terms of investments but also basic business-building skills and how to deal with the public and build relationships. As I needed to know more as time went by, the training built with me. I always learned what I needed to know when I needed to know it — it just seemed to show up at the right time. So clearly there was an organized approach to delivering the training as I needed it, which was really beneficial. A lot of the training that I still desire and require in my business, after having been here for a number years, is delivered in two ways: There are formal training programs that Edward Jones makes available to me at a more advanced level. But a lot of what I learn comes from my peers: We have a lot of learning opportunities within our regional structure that allow me to learn from other Financial Advisors. Through the training and support programs, Edward Jones puts all the arrows in your quiver. They provide all the skills and tools needed to build a successful business. However, the autonomy of the Financial Advisor is in deciding how to use those arrows, and we all do that a little differently. We may have a local market that leans more toward one type of investment solution. The Financial Advisor can decide how to use the skills and tools Edward Jones has provided to build a successful, profitable and ethical business.
Q: What about the Edward Jones opportunity appealed to you?
A: At my previous employer, the empowerment was all very much from the top down, so whatever power you had trickled down from above. At Edward Jones, because the Financial Advisor is the firm's only profit centre, a lot of the empowerment starts with the Financial Advisor and works from there. It's a very different experience when you come to work every day knowing that everyone's paycheck, bonus and retirement plan are contingent on a successful Financial Advisor running a good, ethical, profitable branch office. It's a very positive experience for me to come to work every day knowing that I’m getting that kind of support and empowerment from Edward Jones.
Q: Describe what it's like to build a business.
A: I relocated to open my Edward Jones office and didn't really know anyone in the community. I'll be honest: Meeting people face to face was something I had reservations about. I had never done this before, but I approached it with an open mind. I think there were two things that helped me to realize just how productive and meaningful it was. One is the training I received from Edward Jones: By the time I was introducing myself and Edward Jones to people, I knew what I was doing and was pretty comfortable with it. But the second thing that amazed me was how receptive most people were to meeting a well-trained professional who was proactively talking to them about their personal financial goals. They hadn’t received that level of service from their existing broker. The response I got was generally very positive, and I was surprised by that. When you deliver this service to someone who has never really had good financial service, it’s a powerful recipe to meeting people quickly and efficiently, and it’s an excellent way to build a business. As that process went on over the years, I built my business month by month, day by day, contact by contact, using the skills and techniques I had learned. And as the months went by and my business continued to increase, my sr. branch office administrator (BOA), Gayle, learned everything with me and got to know our clients as well. Now, more than 10 years later, it isn’t about how much production or revenue we have month to month. It's really about how we have built relationships with hundreds of households in our community. That’s why coming to work every day is so enjoyable: We simply spend our day talking with people we've known for a very long time about their financial needs. They’re friends and family. And yet we still have the challenge of meeting new people every day and helping to identify their financial needs. So it’s always got a new feel to it, which is nice — that newness never goes away. Q: Talk a little bit about the spirit of volunteerism at Edward Jones.
A: A lot of the culture at Edward Jones, in terms of volunteerism, is very much a "pay it forward" kind of philosophy. For most of us, when we are in a position to volunteer or are asked to help, we graciously put up our hand because we are really paying back the help and guidance we received earlier in our careers. And I think this ties very much to the fact that we are a partnership: When we hire a Financial Advisor, we could be hiring a future partner. I'm a partner in the firm, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if I had not received that help. Q: What are your feelings about the Edward Jones business model?
A: The recipe at Edward Jones — face-to-face contacts, and then staying in touch with good investment ideas related to solving their financial needs — is a proven way to build a business from scratch. Every new Financial Advisor comes to Edward Jones with a different background, a different skill set and a different set of relationships, whether it’s from a previous career or perhaps a previous business. Most new Financial Advisors add their skills and their family and business relationships to the recipe, which helps them meet the people they don't know. And those two things combined help a new Financial Advisor build a business. When I moved to London from Toronto, I didn't know anyone, so for me the recipe was it. I used that technique to build my business from scratch, because I really didn’t have any of those relationships. Q: What qualities do you think a person needs to thrive as an Edward Jones Financial Advisor?
A: In some respects, you need the same things to be successful in any new business. One needs to be an entrepreneurial, independent, persistent person. You must focus on knowing exactly what to do every day to be successful. You must persist in continuing to do an activity day in and day out, even when it doesn’t appear to be working. When we look for future partners for Edward Jones, we are really searching for independent, entrepreneurial thinkers who demonstrate that focus of persistence that is essential in building any business. In addition, we look for those who appreciate the Edward Jones model and have a desire to build a conservative, ethical investment business. There needs to always be a fit between the client, the Financial Advisor and the firm. If you have an aggressive client, a conservative Financial Advisor and a conservative firm, it’s probably not a great relationship. Or if you have a conservative client with a conservative firm and an aggressive Financial Advisor, it's not going to work. Q: What do you find most rewarding about your career with Edward Jones?
A: I’m a builder; I like to build things. The most enjoyable part of my job is building and expanding client relationships and knowing that I’m helping more and more families in the community with their financial needs — just that sense of building a business. That’s the most enjoyable for me. In addition, being a regional leader is without a doubt the most satisfying role I’ve held in my career anywhere. What I like about it is that it represents to me the ability to bring all the pieces together. After more than 10 years of building a business from scratch with Edward Jones, I’ve covered a lot of ground, and I see new Financial Advisors covering that same ground today. Many things are still the same. As a regional leader, I’m allowed the luxury of working with a team who can help those new people get a strong, positive introduction to our firm and a successful start to their career. It also allows me to help more veteran Financial Advisors continue to build their career and make this a strong, healthy, growing firm. To have the responsibility for this region is a luxury and a compliment that I really appreciate. Q: What advice would you give to someone looking to build a career with Edward Jones?
A: Think like a business owner every day. Although Edward Jones is a large firm that provides a lot of support, it is the day-to-day culture of being a business owner that brings us to work every day and gives us the focus and the persistence to build a profitable, ethical, compliant and successful business for Edward Jones. This is a different view from one of an employee who comes to work every day just for a paycheck. If this sounds appealing to you — if you have that inkling to be a business owner — and you can apply your skill and desire using the model and the support we provide, then this is probably the greatest career opportunity you will ever come across. Q: What are the benefits of working for a partnership?
A: The main distinction between a partnership and a shareholder-owned firm is that partners have a longer-term view that is much more hands-on. We are willing to make decisions as partners that in the long term we believe will benefit our clients, even though in the short term they may not always be the best financial decision. Shareholders, on the other hand, are concerned primarily about one thing: the value of their shares. And they are valued in terms of the quarterly performance of the company. This leads to a different set of decisions and a different culture about how a firm is run. I came from a bank, which obviously was shareholder-owned, and I immediately saw the difference in how we view our clients, how we view one another and how we view the day-to-day challenges of the business. Being a partner gives you a different perspective, and I really value that perspective at Edward Jones. I am not coming to work as an employee; I’m coming to work as a partner — as an owner-operator, if you will, of this firm. My BOA is also a limited partner in Edward Jones. She says it changes the way she views coming to work every day, and it changes the way we both view our clients and the way they view us. They know that we aren’t just employees going through the measure of the steps for a salary. We are local businesspeople who own part of a very good firm. I don’t think we could be who we are without the partnership. Q: Describe what the Edward Jones culture means to you.
A: A good example of the Edward Jones culture would be when, earlier in my career, another Financial Advisor came to spend a couple of days with me in my branch office. What was really notable about that was our desire to work together — for him to give me his experience and help me to become better. He gave me real examples of doing what’s right for the client and unbiased advice. It allowed me to take all the things I had heard about the culture of Edward Jones and say, "What does this look like in practice?" It wasn’t just words on a page. "Culture" is a word that gets tossed around a lot these days in business school circles, but the culture of Edward Jones is truly a culture. When you come to work every day, you know what you stand for. There’s the old saying that if you don’t stand for something, you can fall for anything. I’ve always felt at Edward Jones that I know what I stand for. Q: How have the five points of financial advantage impacted your income?
A: I had never worked on a commission basis before, so I must admit I had some reservations about the transition from a salaried position. But then I learned that you start on salary and graduate to commission. And then I became more comfortable with the other points of the compensation that came in as the years went by. It turned out to be one thing I worried about coming into the job that actually never really materialized. The income was never really an issue. Edward Jones does all the upfront work for you. My commitment to Edward Jones upon accepting an offer was to just do the work: learn the investment products and the basic operations of an office. Their job was to handle everything else. It was nice that I could focus on the things that were important to me, while Edward Jones took care of all of the other things that needed to be done. Q: Talk a little bit about the support you've received at Edward Jones.
A: The support at Edward Jones just seems so genuine. Everyone was clearly working toward helping me to be successful in this new branch office. And that really came through not just in the quality of the training I received but also in the sincerity behind it. At the bank, the training was just short-term technical things that I needed to know, perhaps to achieve a certain task. There was no long term plan for my training. It was just something that was delivered because it had to be done. Q: Describe what it's like to work in a two-person office.
A: First of all, we do attract individuals who like that work environment, so they appreciate a certain amount of autonomy and independence that being the only licensed Financial Advisor in an office brings. But yet the peer support that we receive, whether it’s from meeting with other financial advisors in your community, conference calls or video conferencing, or going back to the home office regularly for additional training or events, gives you a lot of personal contact with the other Financial Advisors in my area and even farther afield. Day in day out, I go to my own office to work with my BOA to run my business for Edward Jones, and yet I never really feel that I’m doing that by myself. There is a lot of support behind the scenes. It just may not be visible when someone walks in the front door of my office. Q: How did you choose your branch office location?
A: When it came time to look for a branch location, I knew that Edward Jones had done a lot of the due diligence upfront, and that where I wanted to put my office was a viable market. But what I also liked was that they hadn't specified the location right down to the intersection. I got to go into the community, drive around, look for what I thought would be a good location, and work with the real estate people Edward Jones had provided to help me with that process. So my location — where I’ve been for more than 10 years —feels very much like my location, because I chose the space, with Edward Jones behind me saying, "Yes, that’s a good location. Yes the market and demographics are good. Yes your lease deal is a good deal." That was good because I was going through the study program at the time and focusing on becoming a licensed Financial Advisor. Q: Are there any memorable experiences, perhaps with a client, that encapsulate or typify what it’s like to work for Edward Jones?
A: Probably the most memorable interaction I had with a client was with a lady named Evelyn, whom I met very early in my career with Edward Jones. I met her at her home on a hot July day, and you could tell by looking at me that I was pretty warm in my suit. She invited me in and offered me some iced tea, and so I sat down and we proceeded to have iced tea together. We chatted for about half an hour, and she was just such a pleasant older, widowed lady. She became a client, and for the following eight or nine years I helped her maintain a conservative stream of income for her later retirement years. She passed away about a year ago, and over that time I had come to know her son as well. One of the touching things about a career with Edward Jones is that you get to know people pretty well as the years go by. As they get older and you get older, things change, and sometimes you know their families, and you have to have those chats with people. So Evelyn really sticks in my mind as one of the very first people I met with whom I built a client relationship and has now passed on. Q: What support is available to new Financial Advisors with Edward Jones?
A: We try to help new Financial Advisors not be overwhelmed by all the things they’re asked to learn about building a business from scratch, which is a challenge for anyone in any industry. Building a business is a difficult exercise. We help new Financial Advisors by taking them one step at a time, giving them the skills they need to start and telling them how to apply those skills in a way that we know works. If they have other approaches that are equally successful, they can try those as long as they’re ethical and compliant. We've found that a step-by-step approach to building a business is best, so that they're not looking three years down the road and thinking, "How am I going to get from A to B over the next three years?" After a number of years, they suddenly realize that they know the walk, and they walk it on their own and don’t need the step-by-step help anymore. Q: What one thing would you tell someone considering the Edward Jones opportunity?
A: I think every new Financial Advisor wonders about the challenge of starting out with a firm named Edward Jones. Although our brand awareness is a lot higher than it used to be, people still probably have not heard of the name Edward Jones. However, I always ask new Financial Advisors this question: If you open 10 accounts for 10 new clients, how many of them trust you? They often answer three, five or eight. Well, the answer is actually 10, because if someone doesn’t trust you at least a little bit, he or she will not give you a dime. And it’s that trust with me or with any other Financial Advisor that the client is saying yes to. They’re not saying, "Yes I would like an account at Edward Jones." They’re saying, "Yes, I would like an account with this gentleman in front of me right now. I would like an account with Fred Rovers." It’s the trust and the relationship that I have with them that open the account. The fact that people don’t always know the Edward Jones name when you meet them really doesn’t hold things back. They’re talking to me, person to person. The Edward Jones reputation is very important, but it comes in after the fact. Q: What makes Edward Jones unique?
A: In Canada, what makes one’s career as an Edward Jones Financial Advisor unique are really the same things that make Edward Jones unique: the idea that the Financial Advisor works from his or her own office with a full-time BOA for support. Our firm does not have proprietary products. We do not manufacture products to offer to people; we go to the market to find financial solutions for clients’ needs. We are a conservative firm with a partnership structure. These are very hard to find in other firms, especially those as large and as established as Edward Jones.
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