Edward Jones
Reviews and Complaints

For what it's worth from a happily EX EJ door-2-door salesman, I could never, ever get over the fact that this 90 year old company had to base its primary marketing efforts to (choking back the bile) door-knocking. They trained us rigorously to knock on 125-160 door per day, 6 days a week for the first 2-4 years to build "their" book of accounts. The "creep factor" to doing this required much courage and stamina on the part of the suit-wearing salesperson. People would often ask me, "What church are you from?" or "Are you running for office?" Nauseating.

Edward Jones is an unethical company who has no problem taking advantage of low income retirees.

I had an IRA with Ed Jones containing 4 American Funds. It irked me that I was charged a $40. annual fee for "paperwork." They also raised the exit fee (if you closed your IRA )from $50. to $95. So I spoke to a different office who suggested I transfer my IRA to American Funds and make them the "custodian" and just keep Ed Jones as the "advisor."
I did this and pay only $10. a year and don't have to worry about a fee when I close the account.

As a happily EX EJ stockbroker, I have to say, "Point well taken!" Not in defense of, but rather as a candid explanation, these salespeople (so-called "advisors"), according to public record, know little if anything about the true workings of what they do for a living. I mean, look, 5.75% sales charge? How much does the hyperactive fund manager have to make his fund perform just to overcome that expense? Not to mention all the "other" fees & expenses eroding the investor's assets. Best bet is to fire the broker, and start by first reading the awesomely short but honest book "The Investment Answer" by Goldie/Murray.

NEVER, EVER INVEST WITH EDWARD JONES...I am in the middle of a huge law suit with them right now as they scammed me out of $60, 000 of my own money. The more I read about them, the worse it gets. Numerous class action law suits against them, selling lousy funds for huge paybacks to themselves and exorbient losses to their customers, poor service and information (they're basically used car salesmen), horrendous fees and commissions, again at huge losses to their customers, etc. They're out for themselves and their clients' best investment wishes are the least of their concern. Even in the recession, all their top executives made multimillion wages when everyone else lost, because they stole your money from under your nose. They are white collar crime and should be jailed for their actions. I personally know of 2 of their salesmen who've had their licences revoked after ripping off elderly, retired people who lost most of their life savings to these selfish scums. And even though every salesman (they call themselves "advisors"... lol!) is different, there seems to be a lack of leadership and quality control with EJ. Many of their offices often only have 1 salesman and 1 secretery with no "boss" to crack down on the fraud they pull off, obviously to keep their own expenses down for greater money to themselves and once again, at huge losses to their clients.
There are numerous other, much better and more reputable places to invest with, even the government backed banks would give you better returns and guaranteed no losses and no fees to pay out (My EJ salesman never even told me about all the extra added fees, in addition to his commission, and he of course got paid highly even though he lost me 60K...dispicable.)
If I can save even 1 person from what I've been through with this JOKE of a company, it's worth it. Get the word out however you can...twitter, facebook, myspace, emails, whatever...tell who ever you can about this horrible company...EDWARD JONES IS A SCAM, A FRAUDULENT COMPANY...NEVER TRUST YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY WITH THEM.
honest citizen
ontario, canada

As a happily former EJer, here's my "look behind the curtain", if you will. Less than 5% of all Fncl. Advisors anywhere know anything useful about prudent investing; they're product salespeople! All (we) ever learned about standard deviation (rate of risk), we leaarned just to pass the series 7. After that, we get sucked into a maelstrom of sell. sell. sell. (Our) "intent" for the client's financial well-being may have started out good, but face it, wirehouses and brokerages are in business to make "your" net worth, "their" net worth. Fire your broker! Hire a coach. Here's simple, prudent advice that'll yield you benefits right away: get and READ the book "The Investment Answer" by Goldie/Murray asap.

@eli5 you seem to ignore that brokers, FA and FP will do and say what they want to make a living. Most of these people do not talk about this when you go to them to invest money. They will not tell you, this is a risk your taking, and you may make money, but you may lose money, but I will still get a commission of ...if these advisors would say this, many people will understand totally, (they may walk out of the door to0), but they will understand, and would proabably take their money elsewhere, like scwab, who will just place the money in a no load money market mutal fund, until you are ready to take some risk and there are others like vanguard also. But investors will shop around now, and since the econmony has left many, many people without anymoney at all or really counting pennies, WE will now think twice, investigate, ask around, and found out who never NEVER to take your money too, and memory serves well when money is involved, so Edward Jones will be rememberd for their greed. I was too rob by a so call FA, who only work for edward jones two years after working at home depot, and invest my life savings in a way that benefited her and her family. Her name is Anita Bowman of Houston, Texas...STAY AWAY

Why diod you wait 8 months before notifying him? As soon as the investment went down, you should have called hima nd asked him what was going on. There are investments liek bank cds and cash funds where your principal is guaranteed. I dont know why you accepted something that had risk if you didnt want any and why he would have put you into something that did.

Sounds like Edward Jones should stop trying to help middle america investors and focus on clients that understand risk.

I see that this is a very annoying situation, and the investor in question more than likely didn't help, but you can never be sure that the investments will earn money, thats the gamble that you take when you invest. There is the possibility, and aim of investment, that your bonds/shares etc. will earn you loads of money and grow into huge amounts but this isn't always the case and i'm afraid that's just something that you will have to risk if you do invest. I'm sory about your loss of money but I don't think that you can soley blame this on the investor.

I certainly hope anyone reading this takes to heart what is being said before you lose your life savings. This company is a fraud and a scam and you will lose everything. Please learn from our mistakes and do not invest your money, stocks, etc. in Edward Jones, you WILL regret it.

It's absolutely NOT the clients fault . Brokers(financial advisors) have a responsibility to act according to the risk their clients can afford . If most clients lose money in a contracting economy or a recession, that seems to be the norm for long term investors . However, financial advisors should know and explain how their clients can hedge their risk .

Next time you meet a financial advisor, don't let their charm and sales tactics persuade you . Ask them about their performance during a market correction, economic contraction and during recessions . Don't let them persuade you that they're good just because they lost only 10% when the markets dropped 15% .

Understand that a brokers job is to sell . But they can choose to sell you safety, wisdom and experience . Alot of brokers just push what the house(firm they represent) tells them to push onto their clients . That's a big NO NO ! If a broker/financial advisor is just starting out, then keep in touch with that advisor and test them through '' paper '' recommendations .Even test experienced one's for that matter . If those recommendations don't do well, then don't higher that advisor . Nobody's perfect . But still a certain performance average should be met . And it doesn't take years to see if the recommendation was a good one .

Makes me laugh when a so called broker uses '' Warren Buffet '' as an example into trying to convince clients to buy and hold for the long term . Just look at what happened to Eastman Kodak since the year 2000 . Today's date is September 30 2011 .
Anyways, all in my humble opinion .

We are a Manhattan based securities law firm. We would be more than happy to evaluate your claim for you. For more information please visit our website at http://www.stockfraudlawyer.info or call us at [protected].

my heart goes out to you and whoever replied saying "it's your fault" is a very misinformed and uneducated person (likely an EJ employee...lol!). EDWARD JONES is a huge SCAM of a company, I also lost $60, 000 with them and am in the middle of a big law suit with them. I hope my salesman loses his licence and goes to jail.
IT IS NOT - i repeat NOT your fault. They have been fined numerous times for fraudulent activity; they sell you lousy funds at HUGE paybacks to themselves and losses to you. I trusted them myself as reputable "advisors" and they're really just used car salesmen. I could kick myself now for ever trusting these ###.
EDWARD JONES assumes no responsibility or accountability for their lousy actions and continues to scam people daily. The admin. people still made multi-million $$ even in the recession when all their clients lost. They should go to jail but somehow white collar crime remains rampid, alot of it is due to idiots like the person who WRONGLY said ìt`s your fault`...it is 100% EDWARD JONE`S FAULT and they need to be accountable. Please seek legal advice to get back some of your hard earned money.
gastona
ontario canada

Thats your own fault. Let me ask you a question...If I put $1000 on your table and started burning bill by bill of your money would you stop me at any point? You saw the market going to hell. You should have pulled out before losing all that money.

I had 45, 000 of my retirement invested in Lehman Bonds. Edward Jones told me not to worry that I would get most of it back. I said I should sell when it went down to around $32, 000. They acted like I would was stupid to sell wanting to sell. They didn't have a clue about what was going on even though he said he was in contact withe Edward Jones Bonds department As far as I am concern it is a crime to sell to old people retired JUNK.

Now I have SEC and Maryland Securties Division of the DA office looking into the matter.

Jim Marler
Baltimore

My investment representative told me there was a one time fee when we invested our money with them. This is simply a lie. I asked the guy three times and he lied three times to me. BEWARE OF EDWARD JONES!

Do not buy bonds at Edward Jones.

Yeah, why?

As a company you should be monitoring your employees outbound calls.
I keep getting private calls which have been traced back to your headquarters in Manchester, Mo.
From the Distribution File Department.
If they continue, I will take further action against your company & the employee.

Hello sir...this man is froud.this man is indian.he take adwords invoice acc usa uk etc. After take acc he run account india.he give offer 10000 of 50000,

Do not do business with Edward Jones in Antelope California. They try to take your money and dont care about you at all.

I moved my accounts from Ed Jones to another instution that I was familar with. Ed Jones lied to me and told me my account was not rolling over but instead being liquid "as we speak" and he probably wont be able to stop it. I was so scared. I called the other institution and they told me all was fine that Ed Jones has been known to lie and scare their clients because they get mad when you move your accounts from them. I live in Antelope, California.

I too have complaints
We decided to dell out our so called "great" mutual funds with Edward Jones and then they were going down down down. I decided to liquidate and go to cash, I got a better rate at my bank, RBC.
They informed me in writing that they are closing our account, and I still dont even have the cash in my accounts. They were very rude and unprofessional and make me feel like I am a rotten person because I asked to move MY money to a GIC for a while until the markets settle down.
Something is wrong with this company. I see now that I am not the only one that is being treated horrifically!

Yes, I agree with you regarding Edward Jones.We wanted to invest in short term bond market for a while. and we saw Edward Jones Ad at one of the groceries store in Kanata Ontario offering 5.5 percent interest. I went there with my Wife. I have clearly stated that we are conservative investors and want to invest in the fixed income market. I want to invest in short term bond up to maximum five years. the louse advisor understood my risk tolerance level since I know that the longer the bonds the higher the risk will be. later, he sold us five years bond ( most of them are US dollars bond, we did not know why, we were looking for Canadian bonds). Today is Sep 23, I read the statement mailed from you, and surprisingly realized that he purchased a $20, 000 dollars Citygroup 10years bond for me and my wife. I can not believe my eyes since I have told the "advior" that we want to have a five years bonds. I called him regarding the mistake, but this advisor kept telling me do not worry and in 5 years he can sell the bond, and the market will be turning around. I told him that was not the point. My point is that, I want purchase a 5 years bonds, why did he purchase 10 years bonds for us? why he did not tell us he's planning to sell us the 10 years bond? I told him that I also work in the customer service industry, our basic concept is that we have to provide what our clients want. First of all, he did not listen to what we want, secondly, he did not inform us what he did to our investment. He even did not restate what he is going to purchase for us and at what term . Later, he admitted his mistake and promised me that he would not do that again, but at the same time, he kept telling me do not worry and market will be turning around and he can sell the bond in five years. The problem is how can we ensure the market, how can we know the amount of money we are going to receive. I want to have our bond mature in five year. Because i know that no matter how volatile the market is, I can get my face value plus interest in five years, but with this 10 years bonds, we can not redeem in five years time if the market is not in our favor, because we can not get our face value in five years. We are very upset about this. My wife she is happy that she did not introduce her friends to him, otherwise, her friends would mad at her too. We are thinking This is our first time investing our money in Edward Jones and it should be the last time investing in Edward Jones.