Penny Pennington

Edward Jones has always prided itself on its army of financial advisers—it employs more than any other financial services firm, and Pennington once set a goal of having 30,000 on board. But the U.S. brokerage firm lost 2% of its representatives in 2021, bringing its year-end headcount to 18,823 and marking its first year-over-year decline since 2011. Despite attrition headwinds, net income soared 25% to $1.6 billion during Pennington’s third year at the helm.