Episode summary
'We Do Very Well By Doing Good for Our Clients,' This Finance Pro Says | At Barron's
At Barron's
· · Hosts: Andy Serwer · Guests: Penny Pennington
Summary
Penny Pennington said Edward Jones is a 103-year-old, privately held financial planning firm serving 9 million clients across the United States and Canada, with 20,000 advisors and a presence in two-thirds of U.S. counties. She argued that the firm’s reach is still growing because investors want both human advice and technology, while the industry faces a coming shortage of advisors as 100,000 are expected to retire over the next 10 years.
She described her tenure as three “seasons” of leadership: first resetting the firm’s ambition, then building infrastructure such as the US Bank partnership and broader planning capabilities, and now preparing for an AI-infused practice and the next generation of leaders. Pennington said Edward Jones is moving more advisors into teams because clients want continuity and advisors want to build legacy practices.
On higher-net-worth clients and alternatives, she said Edward Jones is expanding into more sophisticated planning through its Generations offering, but alts should be available only to qualified clients. She framed the strategy as serving families as they accumulate wealth and need more complex, multigenerational advice. Pennington also said the firm’s financial results are strong because it is making about a billion and a half dollars of change investment a year to serve clients better.
Key takeaways
- Pennington said Edward Jones serves 9 million clients and has 20,000 advisors, with a branch presence in two-thirds of U.S. counties.
- She expects the industry to face a shortage of advice as 100,000 advisors retire over the next 10 years, while Edward Jones grows its advisor count 2% to 3% annually.
- Pennington said the firm is pushing more advisors into teams, with 4,300 advisors already practicing in shared locations.
- She said alternatives such as private credit and private equity are meant for higher-net-worth clients, not all clients.
- Pennington said Edward Jones is investing about a billion and a half dollars a year in infrastructure, talent, and technology to support growth.
Notable quotes
“we are a financial planning firm today serving 9 million clients, a client in every county in the United States and all 10 provinces in Canada”
“A 100,000 financial adviserss are going to retire over the next 10 years”
“This is about ensuring that we are everywhere that our clients are”
“My 30-year-old daughters who are buying homes, building up emergency cash funds, funding school for their kids, they don't they don't need alts in their portfolio”
“we have 4,300 financial adviserss who are practicing as teams or together in in shared locations”
How the episode opens
Hello everyone and welcome to At Barrens. I'm Andy Sirwart and welcome to our guest Penny Pennington, managing partner of Edward Jones. Penny, great to see you.
Thanks for coming. Andy, it's a pleasure to be with you and your audience. So um I think people know about your company.
It's a large financial services firm, privately held uh with advisors and doing brokerage. But how would you describe the company, Penny? Sure.
Um we are a financial planning firm today serving 9 million clients, a client in every county in the United States and all 10 provinces in Canada. We serve people across the arc of their lives multigenerationally. We meet them where they are.
Um and we're hyper local. We we are literally everywhere. We kind of have our pulse on the on we have our finger on the pulse of of North American investors and families and clients.
We are also a private partnership and this is really important because it helps uh it it it it ensures that we determine our destiny for the benefit of our clients. We're 103 years old. Uh our historic home is St.
Louis. That's where I live. Uh but we're spread out now all over North America and we're growing.
We're growing in our numbers and we're growing in our impact. By impact, I mean that we are here to help families become more financially secure, more more confident uh in in the futures of their lives um and raise their probabilities that they're going to be able to to meet their goals. You talked about growing, Penny, and you know, you go to every town in in America and it seems like you see an Edward Jones office.
How many towns are you in and are you really growing at this point still?
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- alternative investments
- client-focused investing
- leadership
- wealth management
- investment firms
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Edward Jones Investments
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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