Staff report

The financial-services firm Edward Jones has been ranked first in J.D. Power and Associates’ annual survey of customer satisfaction among full-service investors, according to Joseph Garlitz, an investment representative in Suffolk.

The ranking, released as the 2005 Full-service Investor Satisfaction Study, ranked Edward Jones ahead of 19 other firms.

&uot;I’m thrilled about our placement on the J.D. Power and Associates ranking,&uot; said Garlitz. &uot;We are committed to providing the highest level of service to our clients. Everything we do is focused on building and maintaining strong relationships.&uot;

The 2005 Full-Service Investor Satisfaction Study, conducted in January and February, was based on responses from more than 6,600 investors who primarily invest with one of the 20 firms in the study.

Six key factors were considered: integrity of the brokerage firm; information resources; account management; cost; investment representative/advisor; and customer service. Edward Jones earned industry-leading scores in the information resources, account management and investment repre-sentative/advisor factors.

In 2002, the first year the study was conducted, Edward Jones was ranked No. 1 in a tie.

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction. The firms’ quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Edward Jones, the only major financial-services firm advising individual investors exclusively, currently serves more than 6 million clients. The firm offers its clients a variety of investments, including certificates of deposit, taxable and non-taxable bonds, stocks and mutual funds.

The largest firm in the nation in terms of branch offices, Edward Jones currently has more than 9,000 offices in the U.S. and, through its affiliates, in Canada and the United Kingdom.

The Edward Jones interactive Web site is located at www.edwardjones.com