A.G. EDWARDS OBTAINS FIVE-STAR SERVICE RATING

A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. has earned a five-star rating for service to individual investors.

Using seven investment and service attributes, Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine reported in its November issue that only one broker firm in the nation A.G. Edwards & Sons earned the special rating.

The magazine compared 16 brokerage firms in the study.

A.G. Edwards, a 104-year-old investment firm, is headquartered in St. Louis.

"It is very gratifying for independent analysis to verify that we do, in fact, achieve the superior level of service for which we strive so hard," said Marsha Limbaugh, branch manager of the Cape Girardeau office.

"The Kiplinger editors are tough critics because of their unrelenting commitment to providing high-quality information to the individual investors who are their readers. This makes the ranking particularly meaningful to us."

The magazine cited A.G. Edwards for its low-cost commissions; low IRA fees; nonexistent or limited fees for other services such as maintaining inactive accounts or holding an investor's stock certificates; above-average research and stock-picking prowess; and overall user-friendly philosophy and service.

In 1989, A.G. Edwards was the only retail broker firm included among 101 companies described by the book, "The Service Edge," as examples of organizations that had achieved excellence in customer service.

Kiplinger cited the firm's decision not to develop its own products such as mutual funds, unit investment trusts or limited partnerships.

Benjamin Edwards III, chairman and chief executive officer of A.G. Edwards, said in the article that if the firm developed such products it would be "working against the customer by pushing house products."

Edwards' great-grandfather, Albert Gallatin Edwards, founded the firm in 1887. The company now has a total of 4,319 brokers in more than 440 offices in 48 states and the District of Columbia.

The firm, which provides a full range of financial products and services to investors, is a member of all major stock and commodities exchanges.