J.D. Powers rates registered reps' happiness at 10 biggest brokerage houses. Edward Jones' brokers are more satisfied with their jobs than any of their big-firm peers, according to a survey by Westlake Village, Calif.-based market researcher J.D. Power and Associates.

"Happy advisors equals increased investor satisfaction, revenue retention and reduced recruitment costs," says Rocky Clancy, executive director of J.D. Power's financial-service practice. "[Less turnover translates] into lower recruiting requirements, while referrals from satisfied financial advisors can attract additional high producers to a firm."

J.D. Powers says that an improvement of 1% in advisor retention leads to around $20 million in retained revenue.

Support

Des Peres, Mo.-based Edward Jones came in first in J.D. Power's most recent survey of advisor satisfaction with a score of 892 out of a possible 1,000 points. San Diego-based Linsco/Private Ledger placed second with 880 points; St. Louis, Mo.-based A.G. Edwards was at third with 822 points.

The industry average satisfaction rating was 739.

New York-based UBS Financial Services took the bottom spot with a broker-satisfaction rate of 685. Brokers put Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia Securities in ninth place with 689 points. New York-based Smith Barney was in eighth place with 701 points.

J.D. Power's 2007 Financial Advisor Study drew on responses from 4,008 financial NASD -registered advisors employed by or affiliated with the ten biggest U.S. brokerages J.D. Powers. The respondents managed approximately $70 million on average.

The study looked at seven factors to measure satisfaction among stock brokers: support, firm performance, compensation, people, products and offerings, work environment and job duties.

On average, 9% of advisors leave their firm annually, taking an average of 51% of client assets with them, according to J.D Powers. Many advisors cited "lack of support" as a major reason for jumping ship. Others complained about the amount of time they're obliged to spend on compliance.

Hands-on sales help is a major contributor to on-the-job happiness. Advisors with at least three sales assistants are more satisfied than those with fewer assistants -- by, on average, 114 points.

"Providing the advisor with an ample and knowledgeable support team can help soften the burden of compliance work and increase satisfaction with the support factor overall," says Clancy. Enhancing the support functions and making processes more convenient can truly give advisors a sense of how valuable they are to their firm."

The other firms whose advisors were polled were Raymond James (fourth place), Merrill Lynch (fifth place), Ameriprise Financial Services (sixth place) and Morgan Stanley (seventh place). -FWR

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