ST. LOUIS, MO--(Marketwire - November 15, 2010) -  Brokerage firm Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. added 10 veteran financial professionals at a new location in Danbury, Conn., company officials announced today. The new office -- the company's 12^th in the country -- joins the St. Louis-based firm's Hamden branch as the second office in the "Constitution State." 

Arnold H. Rozany, a financial services veteran with more than 30 years of financial services experience, will lead the new office as a senior vice president - investments and branch manager. He spent the majority of his career at A.G. Edwards which was acquired in 2007 by Wachovia Securities (now Wells Fargo Advisors). 

"Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. is a special firm that brings together the breadth of products and services that our clients need, while also offering a commitment to put our clients' interests first in a corporate culture characterized by mutual trust, integrity, and treating others the way we want to be treated," said Rozany. "All of us look forward to serving our clients in this client-friendly environment and continue to be impressed by the company's track record of growth over the past year."

Also transferring with Rozany to the new Danbury location are the following financial consultants from Wells Fargo Advisors:

Anthony J. Falcone and Robert A. Schenck both sign on as vice presidents - investments. With 28- and nearly 20-years of experience, respectively, each has a deep understanding of the financial services industry. 

Also joining the new branch is the investment team comprised of Terry L. Rodrigues, who joins as an associate vice president - investments, and Christopher P. Kachur, AAMS^®, who comes aboard as a financial consultant. The team has a combined total of 40 years of brokerage experience. In addition, Kachur earned his Accredited Asset Management Specialist^™ designation from the College for Financial Planning^® in 2002. 

Several financial associates are also making the move to Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. to provide support to the financial consultants and their clients. They include Joanne Eppolito, who joins the firm as a senior registered financial associate. Eppolito is Rozany's long-time assistant who is coming out of retirement to assist with the new office. 

"When we began opening branches a year ago, we pledged to build locations around talented individuals who had the leadership qualities and professional experience necessary to not only build a branch and lead it, but to also deliver on our commitment to provide our clients with the advice they deserve and the financial tools and solutions they need to help them reach their financial goals and objectives," said Benjamin F. (Tad) Edwards IV, the company's chairman, chief executive officer, and president. "This group in Danbury embraces this commitment, and we are thrilled to have them with us. 

Such talk of client service is not new for Edwards, a 30-year veteran of the securities industry. In fact, he was raised with it. His father, Benjamin F. Edwards III, was the long-time chairman of brokerage firm A.G. Edwards, and the man who was once singled out by an industry publication as a "champion for the client." In addition, Tad's great-great-grandfather, Albert Gallatin Edwards, founded the venerable firm in 1887.

When founding the company in 2008, Tad Edwards named it for his father, Ben, and pledged to incorporate the time-tested values of putting clients first, employees second, and shareholders third. 

Future growth
With an emphasis on securing the right talent and cultural fit, branch development and adding financial consultants continue to be priorities for the firm, according to Edwards. 

"We want to build branches in middle market and major metro areas where the economics work and where we have identified individuals with integrity, leadership and a track record of success who also share our passion for client-first service," said Edwards. "We're not going to add locations just to put a pin on a map."

Tapping an industry leader: Pershing LLC
Helping the firm stay focused on attracting talent and providing superior client service is the fact that it outsources most of its technology support and relies on Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon Company, for back office and trade processing support. A financial services leader with over 70 years of experience and more than $770 billion in client assets held in custody, Pershing also offers a comprehensive suite of investment solutions and services, including access to a broad selection of mutual funds and support for advisory programs. BNY Mellon is the world's leading provider of securities services and a top, global asset management firm, with over $24.4 trillion of assets in custody and $1.14 trillion in assets under management.

"Using Pershing for our back office support and some of our technology services, allows us to dedicate our resources to initiatives that reinforce our service-oriented culture and help us build and strengthen our branch system," said Edwards. 

With the new Danbury location, the brokerage firm now employs more than 125 individuals at the firm's headquarters in St. Louis and in 12 branches, located in seven states. 

SIPC and supplemental coverage available
Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $100,000 for claims for cash). An explanatory brochure is available upon request or at www.sipc.org. Pershing also provides additional coverage for eligible securities.

About Benjamin F. Edwards & Co.
With a tagline of "Investments for Generations" and a company logo anchored by the Edwards family crest, Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. is headquartered in St. Louis, Mo. In addition to its Danbury and Hamden branch locations in Connecticut, the company has branch offices in St. Louis and Springfield, Mo.; White Plains, N.Y.; Atlanta, Ga.; Bluefield, Va.; Madison, Wis.; and Peoria, Springfield, Decatur and Wheaton, Ill. A subsidiary of Benjamin Edwards, Inc., Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. is a full-service brokerage and a Registered Investment Adviser, which offers a wide array of financial products and advisory services to its clients and financial consultants. For more information about Benjamin F. Edwards & Co., please visit www.benjaminfedwards.com. 

About Pershing LLC
 Pershing LLC (member FINRA/NYSE/SIPC) is a leading global provider of financial business solutions to more than 1,150 institutional and retail financial organizations and independent registered investment advisors who collectively represent approximately five million active investors. Located in 21 offices worldwide, Pershing and its affiliates are committed to delivering dependable operational support, robust trading services, flexible technology, an expansive array of investment solutions, practice management support and service excellence. Pershing is a member of every major U.S. securities exchange and its international affiliates are members of the Deutsche Börse, the Irish Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. Pershing LLC is a BNY Mellon company. Additional information is available at www.pershing.com

Contact Information:

For more information, contact:
Margaret Welch
(314) 703-1215