Edward Jones, a good way of becoming an IFA?

barneyrubs

Hi, I've posted on here before and have had some excellent feedback and answers so I thought I’d post here again.

I'm thinking of becoming a financial advisor or mortgage advisor, with the long term aim of becoming an IFA.

I'm unqualified at the moment and struggle to find jobs that take on unqualified people.

So I was considering paying and getting and paying for the qualifications myself which will hopefully get my foot in the door.

However I have seen a position offered by Edward Jones and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with them or hopefully anyone who works for them.

Edward Jones will pay my salary during training and the first 17 months of selling but after that it's commission only.

It seems like a really good way of getting started but I’m quite sceptical as I haven’t heard anything about them.

Overall what I’m asking is, is whether its worth me saving myself the money from getting the qualifications myself and being paid a salary?

and also, would I be tied to Edward Jones for any length of time? i.e. what’s stopping me getting the qualifications then leaving



Many thanks in advance for any advice given, James

G-G_4

Hey James,

I paid for my own CeMAP qualifications. I think when some companies pay for you to do them they ask for a certain length of service after you qualify or you have to repay to fees, this could be difficult if you want to leave.

barneyrubs

G-G wrote: »

Hey James,

I paid for my own CeMAP qualifications. I think when some companies pay for you to do them they ask for a certain length of service after you qualify or you have to repay to fees, this could be difficult if you want to leave.

yeah, thats my worry, where did you get your qualification from, if you don't mind me asking, I'm not really sure what i'm looking for as I've found prices ranging from around £1500 to £6000 to get fully qualified

purch

Edward Jones is a very tough employer, with high targets for their 'Advisors'

They won't be giving you a 'free pass' into getting qualified.

I would think they would expect you to repay their investment in you many times over

G-G_4

www.ifslearning.ac.uk

dunstonh

Edward Jones are not IFAs. They fail the definition under the current FSA rules and the new rules for next year.

IIRC, the salary they pay you is a financial debt which gets waived on later performance (something like that). That way they avoid people using them to get trained up.

I will use next years rules as by the time you start the process and get past the early stage you will be in to next year's rules:

To become mortgage only you need 3 exams (Cemap)
To become a tied sales rep (note they will not be called advisers from next year) you will need a further 5 exams. (certificate)
To become an IFA you will need a further 4 exams (of higher standard - diploma)

With the investment level exams it's worth budgeting £500 per exam. You can find out more info at: http://www.cii.co.uk/financialservices.aspx

Whilst there are alternatives, the CII exams are taken by over 90% of those in financial services so colaboration is easier.

I suggest you also read about the RDR because that is making IFA qualifications higher (and harder) to weed out the lower skilled advisers and tied advisers will no longer be advisers from next year but sales reps working to a different level of standards (expect that to mean pay cut potentially).

Aegis

From what I've gathered, their clawback is horrific. If you leave within 2 years of completing their training course and decide to go into another financial services role, they will send you a huge bill for completing your training.

When you consider that their employee turnover rate is somewhere in the region of 20-30% (from memory) each year throughout the company, you are probably talking about a very large number of their "advisers" who have gone bust or been fired.

On top of that, you'll be trained how to sell products you're told to sell rather than getting any real appreciation for matching a product to client needs. From the fairly large number of people I've spoken to about it, becoming a half-decent whole-of-market adviser is a lot harder than sitting through a 12 week course and passing the basic industry exams.

dunstonh

the fairly large number of people I've spoken to about it, becoming a half-decent whole-of-market adviser is a lot harder than sitting through a 12 week course and passing the basic industry exams.

I reckon it takes about 2 years for a lot of the basic exam information to sink in even when your a tied agent. Through whole or market or IFA on top of that and you are talking years more. Indeed, you never stop learning new stuff....

....unless you want to be in a salesforce where advice doesnt matter but being able to policy flog does.

Joey122

dunstonh wrote: »

I reckon it takes about 2 years for a lot of the basic exam information to sink in even when your a tied agent. Through whole or market or IFA on top of that and you are talking years more. Indeed, you never stop learning new stuff....

....unless you want to be in a salesforce where advice doesnt matter but being able to policy flog does.

I d be very interested to know what sort of salary a grad / entry analyst on this would start on?

Any ideas?

Aegis

Joey122 wrote: »

I d be very interested to know what sort of salary a grad / entry analyst on this would start on?

Any ideas?

I'll PM you the details of my current job. For obvious reasons I'd prefer that my salary information wasn't general knowledge!

Scottie1_2

purch wrote: »

Edward Jones is a very tough employer, with high targets for their 'Advisors'

They won't be giving you a 'free pass' into getting qualified.

I would think they would expect you to repay their investment in you many times over

And your knowledge of Edward Jones being a tough employer is based on what?
They are the best employer I have ever worked for. I get the freedom to work my own hours, choose my own area to work in and I've been paid a salary to train AND build the business in my area. The targets are really low initially, but the support is really high.

Don't take my word for it though:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article3477920.ece

If anyone's interested in really knowing what being an Edward Jones adviser is then PM me your number and we can chat.