The Iowa Insurance Division has joined a $17 million settlement with the investment company Edward Jones following a four-year investigation into its handling of customer accounts. The investigation, conducted in collaboration with the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), found gaps in Edward Jones’s supervision of customers who paid front-load commissions for Class A mutual fund shares before moving those assets into fee-based advisory accounts. The inquiry focused on practices tied to the 2016 U.S. Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule, which required investment advice for retirement accounts to meet fiduciary standards. Investigators discovered instances where customers sold or moved mutual fund shares sooner than expected, raising concerns about fees and supervision. Edward Jones will pay an administrative fine of approximately $320,000 to each U.S. state, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands as part of the settlement.
