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ategy John Bachmann is going back to his roots. The senior part- ner of Edward Jones recently stepped down from his position as managing partner of the investment firm and now is work- ing alongside investment representatives in Ireland and the U.K. That's essentially how he started his long career with the company, working first as a college intern and then as an investment representative of a branch office. In 1980, he became managing partner of the firm, which is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Under Bachmann's leadership, Edward Jones has grown from 200 offices in 28 states to more than 9,000 offices in the United States, Canada, and the U.K. Even during this impressive growth spurt, the compa- ny remained true to its vision of serving individual customers while providing excellent career opportunities for employees. In June of 2002, Edward Jones tied for top spot in a survey on Investor Satisfaction with Full Service Brokerage Firms con- ducted by J.D. Power & Associates. In 2002 and 2003, Fortune magazine rated Edward Jones as No. 1 in its annual list of Best Companies to Work For. In January 2004, Bachmann resigned his role of managing by Jonathan Schlereth photographs by Bob Severi 2004-2005 chairman of the board of directors of the United States Chamber of Commerce—expresses his views on what business executives must do to connect with customers, retain employees, and educate themselves for the world of business. partner, although he continues his involvement with the firm and the community. He also remains committed to the compa- ny's basic tenet of serving individual investors through one-on- one relationships with knowledgeable consultants. He favors the Edward Jones policy of carrying only investment options that the firm approves of, even if this sometimes means not offering a product or service a customer might want. Offering all options would be "a department store mentality," he believes, whereas Edward Jones is more of a merchant. "We're informed buyers for the customer," he says. In a recent interview, Bachmann—who has just been elected The investment company Edward Jones has been built on the concept of close, individual relationships between customers and consultants. Former managing partner John Bachmann believes that investing in customers and employees is a strategy that always yields high returns. at Edward Jones. For seven years I actually did the core work that we ask others to do. I understand what the work is, and I understand how difficult it is. The third key decision revolved around the way I struc- What key decisions did you make that enabled you to move steadily upward within the Edward Jones organization? By far the most important decision was to get my MBA at Northwestern University, before the business school became Kellogg. My MBA provided a foundation. I had a classical, liberal arts undergraduate degree, and I needed the teachings I could get in business education to give me a foundation on which to build. The second important decision I made was to become an investment representative tured the investment banking job function at Jones. As invest- ment banking became more mathematical and complex, I brought other people on board who could do it better than I. I designed that position to getmyself out of the way. It was a lonely experience and yet, looking back, I realize it created a level of trust with my predecessor that I couldn't have achieved any other way. I showed I wasn't territorial and was conscious of my own limitations. The fourth step was becoming a partner and instituting a set of goals and strategies that became the basis for what the firm is today. Can an investment representative who was just hired this morning follow a career path similar to yours and become a managing partner or a part of upper man- agement in 30 years? Let me put it to you this way. We have branch office admin- istrators who assist the investment representatives in our 9,000-plus branches. Several of them are general partners in St. Louis. They have worked their way up through the organ- ization; and because of their sheer ability they are now a part BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2004 19