Brokers at regional firm Edward Jones are among the happiest in America.
Forget about the big guns at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, the archrivals that raid each other’s staffs for multimillion-dollar producers and talent, bruise egos and change employee comp plans, advisers say.
Edward Jones, the sedate regional broker out of St. Louis, has just pulled off the highest ranking in the J.D. Power 2015 survey of employee adviser satisfaction, followed by second-place Raymond James and third-place Charles Schwab.
Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley are No. 6 and No. 7, respectively. Edward Jones has held the top spot for the past six consecutive years, which would seem to suggest it is an unchanging broker paradise for many of its 14,000 advisers.
Michael Foy at J.D. Power said changes in the deferred compensation to advisers is a key to this special type of contentment.
“Many firms have made changes that increase deferred compensation to advisers, which helps increase short-term retention,” he said, “but [it] doesn’t foster loyalty.”
The news is not welcome at Merrill and Morgan. Bulking up with assets and dangling huge contracts to lure talent has fortified their franchises.
But relentless and hardcore productivity drives and higher asset targets tied to employee compensation can damage morale, say advisers.
“While there is no evidence of an imminent mass exodus of financial advisers from their firms, we know that when advisers decide to leave, they tend to take most of their clients and assets with them,” Foy said.
One adviser who bolted Merrill Lynch this year for Raymond James said he has no regrets. Merrill was no longer the same benevolent advocate for its “Thundering Herd” after it was acquired by Bank of America in 2009, he told The Post.