By Wailin Wong | Investment firm Edward Jones is hoping to double its number of financial advisors in the Chicago area over the next seven to eight years, starting with 50 new hires this year.

The St. Louis-based company has about 375 financial advisers in the greater Chicago area.

“One of the great opportunities about being in Chicago is we’ve got 75
million baby boomers approaching retirement,” said Dalton Schumacher,
Edward Jones’ area leader.

According to the company, 85 percent of hires are people who are looking
for a career change. Price Woodward, Edward Jones’ area leader for the
eastern half of the U.S., said the company’s total number of financial
advisors grew 7.5 percent last year. That pace was slightly below the
company’s historical growth rate, but the opportunity for new hires is
still good, Woodward said.

“We have an objective to grow through good markets and bad markets,” he
said.

Edward Jones is holding a diversity recruiting event for minority
candidates on Thursday in Oak Brook.