Add outsourcing back-office support to the many ways Edward Jones is following the example of its broker-dealer competitors.
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In a regulatory filing this month, the St. Louis-based firm reported that it is becoming ever more reliant on a “growing number of complex third parties.”
“These third parties enable certain critical business operations including outsourcing services which had previously been performed by the Partnership, such as tools that support branch teams’ interactions with clients and enhance client experiences,” according to Edward Jones’ 10-K filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 13.
A company spokesperson said Edward Jones has been working with third-party contractors in India since late 2021, primarily in the cities of Hyderabad and Bengaluru (also known as Bangalore). The contractors perform a variety of digital and operations functions and don’t work directly with Edward Jones clients or branches, the spokesperson said.
“Edward Jones remains focused on delivering consistent, high‑quality service and support to our clients,” the spokesperson said.
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Outsourcing introduced under Pennington
Reddit and other online message boards have for years been home to comments, typically anonymous, that Edward Jones was sending hundreds of support positions overseas. This month marks the first time the firm has officially confirmed such outsourcing has been taking place.
Outsourcing certain services to India is one of many internal changes introduced under current CEO and managing partner Penny Pennington, who rose to the top job in 2019. Other changes include the addition of Generations, an initiative offering advanced services to clients with $10 million or more in investable assets. Edward Jones also recently secured regulators’ approval for a state-chartered industrial bank.
Many of these changes, including outsourcing, mirror strategies already adopted by other firms.
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What LPL, Ameriprise are doing with outsourcing
Among Edward Jones’ rivals, LPL Financial began moving some back-office functions to India in the 2010s and opened a back-office and technology support center in Hyderabad earlier this year. Ameriprise started even earlier, founding its Ameriprise India Operations subsidiary in the city of Gurugram in 2005.
The savings from outsourcing can be substantial. In its own 10-K filing this week, Ameriprise credited Joseph Sweeney — the firm’s president of advice and wealth management products and service delivery — for helping to generate $260 million in “operating cost efficiencies” through the firm’s Ameriprise India Operations.
The savings from outsourcing often come from the lower salaries paid overseas. Tellingly, in its 10-K report, Ameriprise notes that CEO Jim Cracchiolo’s proposed total compensation of $31 million would be 216 times larger than the median pay for Ameriprise employees outside of India, which was $142,997 in 2025. With India employees included in the comparison, the ratio rises to 232 times the median salary of $133,001.
Frank LaRosa, the founder and CEO of the recruiting firm Elite Consulting Partners, noted that some firms — Raymond James in particular — have taken a stance against outsourcing anything and have made that refusal part of their value proposition. That said, LaRosa said not all outsourcing necessarily involves additional hassle.
Bill payments, invoice processing and other back-office work can often be done overseas with few noticeable hiccups, he said.
“You can call them up, or a lot of it is done via email,” LaRosa said. “And that’s fine. It’s not client-related stuff.”
But when the services sent overseas are things advisors rely on for their daily jobs, outsourcing can become a problem, LaRosa said. For starters, he said, there’s always the question of whether the person on the other end of the phone has a strong enough grasp of English to pick up on nuances that an advisor may be trying to convey.
“And two, do they fully understand the business and what it means to be a financial advisor managing a client relationship?” LaRosa said. “And I just contend that it’s harder to do, and it’s harder to manage if they’re offshore, or even nearshore, than if they’re domestic.”
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Edward Jones’ recent layoffs and what outsourcing means for its ‘Midwestern’ brand
In its 10-K filing, Edward Jones reported its headcount for home-office employees fell by 4% last year to 8,971. The firm confirmed that last year it had parted ways with more than 800 employees from its headquarters, including nearly 260 who were laid off and just over 550 who accepted a voluntary buyout.
Edward Jones is far from the only firm to have periodic layoffs. LPL, for instance, laid off about 300 employees in February, and Morgan Stanley trimmed about 2,500 this month — none of them client-facing advisors.
Shelby Nicholl, a former Edward Jones director and the founder of advisor recruiting firm Muriel Consulting, said Edward Jones has what’s often referred to as the “rule of 70.” When an employee’s years of work experience plus their age adds up to 70, they can take a buyout offer and retire.
Many of the people who left last year had met those criteria, Nicholl said.
“So I don’t think that it’s India causing that,” she said. “But I have heard from advisors about how they had a long-standing compliance employee that they were used to working with for 30 years and is no longer there or who was offered a buyout.”
At a minimum, Nicholl said, outsourcing seems to not jibe with Edward Jones’ frequent depictions of itself as a Midwestern firm intent on helping ordinary investors and savers.
“There’s just so many changes all happening at the same time as the firm seeks to modernize,” Nicholl said. “But that modernization can feel very countercultural to the advisor population, especially the long-standing advisors and the long-standing employees.”
