Edward Jones Ranks No. 8 on FORTUNE Magazine's Best Companies to Work For List

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial-services firm Edward Jones ranked No. 8 on FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For 2013" list in its 14^th appearance on the prestigious list. Edward Jones was the highest ranking financial-services firm.

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Edward Jones' 14 FORTUNE rankings also include top 10 finishes for 10 years and consecutive No. 1 rankings in 2002 and 2003 and consecutive No. 2 rankings in 2009 and 2010.  Last year, the firm ranked No. 5 overall.

"Our 30,000 financial advisors, branch office administrators and associates in our home offices are highly motivated by our work helping individual investors," said Edward Jones Managing Partner Jim Weddle.  "We are proud of the high level of personal service we offer.

"As a partnership, we are not accountable to stockholders. We are accountable only to our clients and responsible to ourselves. We focus exclusively on meeting the needs of serious, long-term individual investors. Helping our friends and neighbors reach their long-term financial goals is satisfying work. In this survey, 94 percent of those who responded say they are proud to work at Edward Jones."

In its description of Edward Jones, FORTUNE magazine says that the full-service financial firm "maintains a close-knit culture with regular regional gatherings for ice-skating, fishing tournaments, ice cream socials, and other fun."

The full list and related stories appear in the Feb. 4 issue of FORTUNE and now at www.fortune.com/bestcompanies.

Currently, Edward Jones has nearly 4,630 positions available throughout the country, mostly for financial advisor and branch office administrator.  Each Edward Jones branch office includes one financial advisor and one branch office administrator who work one-on-one with clients in the communities where those clients live.

To pick the 100 Best Companies to Work For, FORTUNE partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America. Two-thirds of a company's score is based on the results of the institute's Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees from each company. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about management's credibility, job satisfaction, and camaraderie. The other third of the scoring is based on the company's responses to the institute's Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, internal communications, training, recognition programs and diversity efforts.

Edward Jones provides financial services for individual investors in the United States and, through its affiliate, in Canada. Every aspect of the firm's business, from the types of investment options offered to the location of branch offices, is designed to cater to individual investors in the communities in which they live and work. The firm's 12,000 financial advisors work directly with nearly 7 million clients to understand their personal goals - from college savings to retirement - and create long-term investment solutions that emphasize a well-balanced portfolio and a buy-and-hold strategy. Edward Jones embraces the importance of building long-term, face-to-face relationships with clients, helping them to understand and make sense of the investment options available today.

Edward Jones is headquartered in St. Louis. The Edward Jones website is located at www.edwardjones.com, and its recruiting website is www.careers.edwardjones.com. Follow Edward Jones on Twitter @EdwardJones. Member SIPC.

SOURCE Edward Jones