Published July 2002

Edward Jones makes grade
with working moms

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

As an investment representative, Mary Basili enjoys helping people solve their financial problems. As a mother, she enjoys taking part in her children’s lives. Working for Edward Jones, she is able to do both.

Like most Edward Jones branch offices, Basili’s office has one investment representative and one administrative assistant. The two-person combo enables the office to operate regular hours even as Basili schedules evening and weekend appointments to meet her clients’ needs.

“It’s been invaluable for me, the flexibility to work in an office, to make my own appointments and set my own time,” said Basili, who has been in the industry since 1982, joining Edward Jones in 1994 and opening her office at Murphy’s Corner Plaza in south Everett in 1996.

Basili isn’t alone in her praise. For the second time, Edward Jones made the list of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers by Working Mother magazine.

To make the list for 2001, companies completed an application that focused on the availability of tracking programs and the accountability of managers overseeing them, according to the magazine’s Web site, www.workingmother.com. Companies also had to supply “supporting documents such as benefit handbooks and the results of employee surveys.”

For the 2001 competition, flex time, advancement and equitable distribution of benefits were focus issues.

On the issue of flex time, Basili said her children, ages 14 and 18, appreciate her career.

“They realize the flexibility I have. If there’s a seminar or appointment, I’m able to go to it,” she said. “On the other hand, there are nights where they realize ... Mom can’t be at every soccer game or every baseball game because Mom’s working or has an appointment.”

When it comes to advancement opportunities, Edward Jones also makes the grade, said Basili, who is a limited partner in the St. Louis-based company, which has 28 offices in Snohomish County and more than 8,300 worldwide.

“Edward Jones is known for being tops in training,” she said.

Besides sponsoring prospective investment reps for the Series 7 exam — the primary examination under the National Association of Security Dealers to become a general securities representative — Edward Jones requires continuing education in securities, ethics and insurance, Basili said.

According to the company, associates who make “outstanding contributions” are invited to become limited partners, just as Basili was in 2000.

And the company’s employee benefits emphasize the importance of the whole person — parent, spouse, student — by offering tuition reimbursement, adoption assistance, family leave and profit sharing in addition to full medical benefits.

For Basili, such benefits are reflective of Edward Jones’ commitment to people — employees and clients both.

The one-rep office, for instance, spurs relationship-oriented business, she said.

“We know people by name,” Basili said. “We’ve got a relationship with them. Whatever need they have, we’re going to take care of it. If they have a question about mortgage loans, estate planning, investments, CDs, bonds, life insurance, they can do everything here.”

Helping people answer those questions is what Basili enjoys most about working for Edward Jones.

“Retirees, pre-retirees, business owners, single moms — I think that’s so valuable, being able to help each one reach their financial goals at whatever stage, whatever level, wherever they are in their life,” she said.

Basili can be reached at 425-379-9313.

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