Edward Jones Growth Plan on Track - December 2008

Edward Jones continues an aggressive expansion plan here and nationwide.

"We base our expansion on total liquid investable assets," said Jim Koinis, the area's regional leader and a financial adviser in Punta Gorda. "The industry knows how many dollars are available and what percentage of that business we have, and we know how well we can expand in an area.



"In the beginning, I knocked on doors all day long," "It sounds so old-fashioned, but you realize why you are doing it. You really want to get to know people before you can give them any kind of advice." (financial adviser with Edward Jones, C.J. Bannister). Cold calling remains the primary way she and other Edward Jones advisers build their offices.

St. Louis-based Edward Jones operates 9,200 offices in the United States, plus nearly 600 in Canada and 230 in the United Kingdom. Its 11,000 advisers work with more than 7 million clients. Today ranks first in number of offices, third in brokers and 30th in capital.

New financial advisers go through a detailed training process. Continuing education is important -- "We never stop going to school," according to Koinis.

"Our investment philosophy is buy quality, hold for the long term, and diversify," Koinis said.

Favored are a mix of municipal, government and corporate bonds, mutual funds, common stocks and tax-advantaged securities.

Its model stock portfolio includes financial services, health care, technology, consumer staples, consumer cyclicals, capital goods and energy.

SmartMoney magazine this year named Edward Jones the No. 2 full-service brokerage firm, behind Raymond James.

Adviser Profiles at Edward

Some advisers join Edward Jones right out of college, but many had previous careers.

Koinis

Koinis was a teacher, school administrator and restaurant owner before moving to Punta Gorda and opening his office in 2000.

John Tucker

For John Tucker, Edward Jones is a family affair.

He has been a financial adviser with the firm in Bradenton for 20 years. His wife, Diane, has her own Edward Jones office, also in Bradenton. His sister and her husband, and one of their children, operate offices in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Tucker,presently 62, owned a drug store with his wife in Blackfoot, Idaho, before deciding to make a change. He had a master's of business administration degree, and after checking out a recently opened Edward Jones office in his town, he felt it would work for him and relocated to Bradenton.

"When you first start out, you go door to door, introducing yourself to people and telling them you plan to open an office," Tucker said. "From there you visit with those people you met, and over time some of them become clients, and some don't become clients. You get referrals, and that's how you grow the business."

After 20 years, Tucker does not have to cold call any more, but he still networks at Chamber of Commerce meetings, social functions and the like.

His day is a mixture of talking to clients on the telephone, visiting with them here in the office, or going to see clients if they can't come to see him.

Source
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20081215/ARTICLE/812150302/2055/NEWS?Title=Edward_Jones__growth_plans_on_track