Edward Jones Rank No. 1 on the 2008 Investment Executive Brokerage Report Card

    TORONTO, May 1 /CNW/ - The financial-services firm Edward Jones ranked
No. 1 in the national independent category on Investment Executive's annual
survey of brokers. This is Edward Jones' 11th consecutive year appearing on
the list; the firm received nine No. 1 rankings and two No. 2 rankings since
1998.
    The financial services industry publication surveyed randomly selected
brokers from the top 15 Canadian brokerage firms. The publication divided the
firms into four categories: boutiques (less than 100 associates), regional
independents, national independents (in which Edward Jones was categorized),
and bank-owned investment dealers. In the survey, firms were evaluated on
criteria such as ongoing training, consumer advertising, quality of mutual
fund research, pricing of fixed-income products, corporate culture and firm
image.
    This is one of several accolades the firm has received lately. Edward
Jones ranked No. 15 on the "Best Workplaces in Canada" list in the Globe and
Mail newspaper. For the sixth consecutive year, Edward Jones was named one of
the Best Employers in Canada based on the annual listing in Globe and Mail's
Report on Business magazine and in La Presse. The firm ranked No. 5 for large
firms in this prestigious ranking.

    Edward Jones is a full-service investment dealer with one of the largest
branch networks in Canada. It is a member of the Investment Dealers
Association of Canada and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund, and a
participating organization of the Toronto Stock Exchange. Including its
affiliates, Edward Jones serves more than 7 million individual investors in
Canada, the U.S. and the United Kingdom from more than 10,000 locations.

For further information: Jessica Davidson, [phone],
[e-mail]