Edward Jones Launches 12 Model Portfolios

Edward Jones, a St. Louis-based brokerage firm, announced Monday that it has added 12 model portfolios to its mutual fund and exchange-traded fund advisory program.

The program, Edward Jones Advisory Solution, is an asset allocation program that allows investors to select from research or custom models with an initial minimum investment of $50,000. Model portfolios allow Edward Jones to handle asset allocation, investment selection and rebalancing for clients.

The 12 new models incorporate active and passive investment styles in the same portfolio.

The program, which has accumulated $40 billion in assets under management since it launched in August 2008, now offers 38 research models, in addition to custom models, allowing investors to choose an investment strategy to match their needs. With the program's custom models, clients retain discretion over the investment selection from the list of funds available in the program.

Edward Jones Advisory Solutions now ranks as the seventh largest mutual fund advisory program nationally, according to Cerulli Associates.

Bill Broderick, an investment advisory principal for Edward Jones, said in a press release that the new portfolios will be attractive to clients that want to combine active and passive investing. "We use the same due diligence process that we are known for in selecting actively managed mutual finds and are applying it to the selection of appropriate ETFs,” he said. “Then we combine the two types of investments in an actively managed model portfolio."

The manager of an actively managed fund will seek to outperform an index, either by pursuing a higher return, taking lower risk or combining these two features.  The manager of a passive fund will seek to achieve the return of a particular index before expenses.

Advisory Solutions has client centric features that differentiate it from many advisory products currently available, according to Broderick. The Edward Jones Mutual Funds Research Team considered all types of mutual funds - both load and no-load families, and exchange-traded funds.

Advisory Solutions clients receive monthly statements and quarterly performance reports. More frequent updates are available online. Investors also can automatically add or withdraw a fixed dollar amount from the account on a periodic basis.

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