A.G. Edwards, Inc. was an American
financial services
Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...
holding company; its principal wholly owned subsidiary was A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., which operated as a full-service securities
broker-dealer
In financial services, a broker-dealer is a natural person, company or other organization that engages in the business of trading securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers. Broker-dealers are at the heart of the securities and ...
in the United States and Europe. The firm was acquired by
Wachovia
Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asset ...
to be folded into
Wachovia Securities
Wachovia Securities was the trade name of Wachovia's retail brokerage and institutional capital markets and investment banking subsidiaries. Following Wachovia's merger with Wells Fargo and Company on December 31, 2008, the retail brokerage beca ...
;
Wachovia was subsequently acquired by
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
, and the securities division was folded into
Wells Fargo Advisors
Wells Fargo Advisors is a subsidiary of Wells Fargo, located in St Louis, Missouri. It is the third largest brokerage firm in the United States as of June 30, 2021 with $1.9 trillion retail client assets under management
In finance, assets u ...
. The firm provided securities and commodities brokerage, investment banking, trust services, asset management, financial and retirement planning, private client services, investment management, and other related financial services to individual, governmental, and institutional clients.
A.G. Edwards was a member of the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
and other major stock and commodities exchanges. The firm's global headquarters were located in the
Downtown West area of
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
. The company traded on the NYSE under the
ticker symbol
A ticker symbol or stock symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded Share (finance), shares of a particular stock or Security (finance), security on a particular stock exchange. Ticker symbols are arrangements of symbols ...
AGE.
History
The company was founded in 1887 when
Albert Gallatin Edwards and his son opened for business in
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
. It was the first St. Louis brokerage to handle transactions on the New York Stock Exchange, buying a seat on the NYSE in 1898.
Due to increased capital needs for its branch system, A.G. Edwards was among the first brokerage firms to
go public. In November 1971, 445,000 shares of stock were offered to the public at $12 a share.
As of March 29, 2007, the company had over 740 locations in 50 states, the District of Columbia, London, and Geneva. The company served its clients through its branch-office networks staffed with 6,618
financial consultants, managing $374 billion in total client assets, and $44 billion in fee based accounts. During its fiscal year 2007, ending February 28, A.G. Edwards had
net revenues of $3,110,500,000 and
net earnings of $331,400,000.
On May 31, 2007, the company announced that it would be acquired by
Wachovia Corporation
Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asset ...
in a $6.8 billion deal. On September 28, 2007, the company's shareholders voted in favor of the merger with Wachovia. The acquisition closed on October 1, 2007, and A.G. Edwards became a wholly owned subsidiary of Wachovia Corporation.
Following the merger, Wachovia moved the world headquarters of combined retail brokerage,
Wachovia Securities
Wachovia Securities was the trade name of Wachovia's retail brokerage and institutional capital markets and investment banking subsidiaries. Following Wachovia's merger with Wells Fargo and Company on December 31, 2008, the retail brokerage beca ...
, from
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
, to A.G. Edwards' previous headquarters in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
. Subsequently, Wachovia eliminated the A. G. Edwards brand in favor of Wachovia Securities.
On December 31, 2008, Wachovia Corporation was purchased by
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
& Co. after the bank was nearly taken over by the
FDIC
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is a State-owned enterprises of the United States, United States government corporation supplying deposit insurance to depositors in American commercial banks and savings banks. The FDIC was cr ...
. Wachovia had purchased
Golden West Financial and its subsidiary World Savings in mid-2007. The crash of
subprime mortgage
In finance, subprime lending (also referred to as near-prime, subpar, non-prime, and second-chance lending) is the provision of loans to people in the United States who may have difficulty maintaining the repayment schedule. Historically, subpr ...
s, which made up most of World Savings' nearly $200 billion mortgage portfolio, put significant strain on Wachovia and eventually caused its collapse. On July 1, 2009, Wachovia Securities was renamed Wells Fargo Advisors and Wells Fargo Investments, which included the former A.G. Edwards business lines.
Controversy
In 2006 the firm agreed to pay $900,000 "to settle claims that it charged customers excessive account fees." In 2007 they paid "nearly $4 million" for a market-timing violation.
In 2008, the office of the
Massachusetts Secretary of State launched a formal investigation into A.G. Edwards in response to a string of complaints from retirees of the former Boston Edison (now known as
NSTAR). The investigation centered on a former A.G. Edwards broker, William "Buck" McHugh, who had targeted the Boston Edison retirees for their large severance packages beginning in the late 1990s. The complainants accused A.G. Edwards of failing to properly supervise McHugh as he allegedly steered millions of dollars into failed investments and embezzled funds from client accounts. Wachovia settled claims by the A.G Edwards customers in an agreement with the state.
Benjamin Edwards III
Former CEO, Benjamin Edwards III, "who transformed A. G. Edwards, the St. Louis brokerage house founded by his great-grandfather, into the largest United States brokerage company based outside New York" died April 20, 2009, from
prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...
at the age of 77, a couple of years after A.G. Edwards folded into Wachovia Securities.
References
External links
A. G. Edwards
{{Authority control
Companies based in St. Louis
Brokerage firms
Financial services companies established in 1887
Financial services companies disestablished in 2007
2007 mergers and acquisitions
1887 establishments in Missouri
2007 disestablishments in Missouri