No: Edward Jones is paid through commissions, sales charges, trail commissions and revenue sharing from fund and annuity companies on its brokerage accounts, as well as asset-based fees on its advisory accounts. It is registered with the SEC as both a broker-dealer and an investment adviser, so the same advisor can offer you either. In its main advisory program the fee schedule lists up to 1.35% a year on the first $250,000, plus a 0.05% platform fee.
That makes Edward Jones a dual registrant, not a fee-only firm. Here’s what its own filings say about how it’s paid and what it costs.
How Edward Jones is paid
Edward Jones (CRD 250) offers two kinds of accounts, and its Form CRS, dated August 15, 2026, sets them side by side.
Brokerage (the Select Account). You pay per transaction. The Form CRS lists commissions on stocks, bonds and ETFs, markups on bonds, and “sales charges or commissions” on mutual funds and variable annuities. It says plainly: “The more trades in your account, the more you pay us.” Funds and annuities also pay Edward Jones ongoing service fees (12b-1 fees), trail commissions and revenue sharing. The firm says “virtually all transactions relating to mutual funds, 529 plans and annuity products involve product partners that pay us revenue sharing.” There’s no minimum, and Edward Jones doesn’t monitor these accounts.
Advisory programs (Advisory Solutions and others). You pay a fee based on your account’s value. The Form CRS says: “The more assets (including cash) in your account, the more you pay us.” In these programs Edward Jones says it credits back to you payments from funds it would otherwise keep, and that it doesn’t receive revenue sharing on advisory assets.
Financial planning. Its Branch Office Financial Planning Services brochure, dated July 30, 2026, lists a maximum of $3,600 for a one-time plan and $3,600 a year for ongoing planning, either of which Edward Jones may discount.
On its Form ADV Part 1, filed September 25, 2026, the advisory side reports being paid by a percentage of assets and by fixed fees. It also reports two other businesses: broker-dealer and insurance broker or agent. The commissions sit on the broker-dealer side, which is why the Form CRS is the place to see them.
The CFP Board’s standards allow “fee-only” only when neither the advisor nor a related party receives sales-related compensation. Commissions, trails and revenue sharing are sales-related pay, so Edward Jones doesn’t meet that test as a firm.
What else the filings disclose
How advisors are paid. On brokerage accounts, your advisor “receives a portion of the commissions, markups or markdowns, or sales charges you pay,” plus a share of ongoing trails. On advisory accounts, most advisors receive part of the program fee; some are salaried. Eligible advisors can also earn bonuses, profit sharing and a Travel Award Program, based partly on revenue from both kinds of accounts.
Its own funds. The Advisory Solutions Fund Models account “will invest in one or more affiliated mutual funds,” the Bridge Builder funds, and cash sweeps into the Edward Jones Money Market Fund. Both are advised by Olive Street Investment Advisers, an Edward Jones affiliate. The brochure says fees Edward Jones or its affiliates earn from those funds are credited back to advisory accounts.
Insurance. The brochure lists three US insurance agencies Edward Jones owns, in New Mexico, Massachusetts and California. The Form CRS says eligible advisors receive “a portion of the fees” for annuities sold by affiliates.
Choosing between accounts. The Form CRS flags this conflict itself: an advisor “typically earns more in upfront fees and commissions through brokerage services and more over time through investment advisory services.” The brochure adds that the rate paid to your advisor is the same across advisory programs.
Disciplinary history. The Form CRS answers “Yes” to whether the firm and some of its advisors have legal or disciplinary history. The details are on BrokerCheck.
What Edward Jones costs
Advisory Solutions Fund Models is Edward Jones’s main wrap fee program. Its schedule of fees, revised March 2026, lists two parts, each a maximum, applied in tiers to the accounts in your pricing group:
| Assets in account | Program fee | Platform fee |
|---|---|---|
| First $250,000 | 1.35% | 0.05% |
| Next $250,000 | 1.30% | 0.05% |
| Next $500,000 | 1.20% | 0.04% |
| Next $1,500,000 | 1.00% | 0.03% |
| Next $2,500,000 | 0.80% | 0.02% |
| Next $5,000,000 | 0.60% | 0.01% |
| Over $10,000,000 | 0.50% | 0.00% |
The fee is charged monthly on everything in the account, including cash. Edward Jones may discount it, and the brochure says lower rates are “at the sole discretion of Edward Jones.” The funds you hold charge their own expenses on top. The brochure doesn’t state a dollar minimum for this program.
Worked out on the maximum rates:
- $500,000: $6,625 program fee plus $250 platform fee, or $6,875 a year (about 1.38%)
- $1 million: $12,625 plus $450, or $13,075 a year (about 1.31%)
For comparison, fee-only firms that publish a percentage fee charge a median 1% of assets. Fee-only planners who charge a flat fee for ongoing planning charge a median $4,500 a year (middle half $2,400 to $7,200), whatever your balance, and a one-time plan has a median of $2,000. A flat-fee planner may not manage your investments for that price, while the Edward Jones fee covers management, trading and custody. Our guides to what an advisor costs on $500,000 and on $1 million go further.
A brokerage account can cost less if you rarely trade. The Form CRS says you “will typically pay more in upfront fees and commissions through brokerage services and more over time through investment advisory services.”
Who Edward Jones may suit
Edward Jones may suit someone who wants one named advisor to meet with, and who values having brokerage, advisory accounts, planning, annuities and insurance in one place. Someone who buys and holds a few investments may find a Select Account fits, since it has no minimum and you pay per trade rather than a yearly percentage. Someone who wants a portfolio managed for them, with monitoring, gets that in the advisory programs.
Someone who wants advice from a firm paid only by them, or who mainly wants planning rather than managed investments, may want to compare a fee-only planner who charges a flat or hourly fee first. Our guide to fee-only vs fee-based vs commission explains the trade-offs.
How to check it yourself
- Read the Form CRS. It’s four pages because Edward Jones is both a broker and an adviser. It’s linked from the firm’s SEC record. See what a Form CRS tells you.
- Ask which hat your advisor is wearing on each account: “Are you acting as my broker or my investment adviser here?”
- Ask for your fee in dollars, including your pricing group, any discount, and the expense ratios of the funds you’d hold.
- Look up your advisor on BrokerCheck for registrations and any disclosures.
Our guide to telling whether an advisor is fee-only walks through each check, and questions to ask a financial advisor gives you the rest. If you’re thinking of moving, see how to switch financial advisors.
Compare similar firms
Other regional brokerage firms we’ve checked against the fee-only definition: Raymond James, Stifel, RBC Wealth Management, Baird, Janney. See all 50 firms.