Text size

The envelope, please…

Edward Jones advanced to the top spot in J.D. Power’s 2019 U.S. Full Service Investor Satisfaction Study. The firm came in second last year behind Charles Schwab, which fell to fifth place in the latest survey.

Newsletter Sign-up Advisor Center Barron’s scans the world’s major publications each day to find news that helps financial advisors serve their clients better. PREVIEW

RBC and Advisor Group came in second and third in 2019, and Morgan Stanley ranked fourth, making it the top wirehouse and marking a big leap from last year, when it was 15th. Rival Merrill Lynch slid in the rankings, to No. 12 from fifth place last year. Wells Fargo advanced to the ninth position from 16th place.

From November through January, J.D. Power surveyed 4,629 investors who make some or all of their investment decisions with a financial advisor. The study measures overall satisfaction with full-service firms in eight areas: financial advisor; account information; investment performance; firm interaction; product offerings; commissions and fees; information resources; and problem resolution.

Because the survey was conducted during December when markets were tanking, investor satisfaction suffered, J.D. Power said.

“In recent years, investor satisfaction with full-service advisors and wealth management firms had been buoyed by the prolonged bull market, but with challenging markets returning investors are increasingly reexamining the value of their advisor relationships,” said Mike Foy, senior director of Wealth Intelligence at J.D. Power. “What we have found is that it’s not enough just to maintain frequent communication with clients; advisors also need to effectively explain and manage expectations around performance.”