For the record, not all Edward Jones FA are corrupted by the empire that is Edward Jones. They do, however, hear it from command central that they must be doing something wrong not to have all the right funds being funded through the right channels. I'll give you one example where high fees are likely but not a guarantee.
American Funds, yes their pet kickback machine, charged an annual $10 maintenance fee. Many of you may be familiar with the usual $40 EJ maintenance fee for American Funds. Well, my brother, the actual advisor, realized that the fee was only $10 for a directly deposited account that circumvented EJ entirely. One day, EJ looked at his records and asked why he had millions of dollars invested through him, but none through the money machine of AF. He replied that he did, in fact, invest in the money machine AF, but through the most cost effective means for his clients. They offered him a grandfathered deal that would allow the same $10 maintenance fee for all his clients if he would move it into the EJ loophole for kickbacks. He obliged when the price was right for his clients.
I get it. Some of the EJ's FA are slimy. My brother knows a lot of them. They mostly ask him why he doesn't do this or that and make seven figures. Granted, I have some bias to like my own brother, but I do believe he's not just towing the company line to make a profit. I also have access to some commission-free transactions because I'm family, so it makes it easier to palate otherwise costly fees of EJ. I suppose for this reason, I am a rare client who does not get Christmas and birthday cards/calls from the EJ office.
Bottom line for everyone--don't hate the people, take the time to know what you're investing in, it's worth it. And for what it's worth, because my 403b is not through EJ, I will likely roll it over into Vanguard when I'm done working.