John W. Bachmann
Past Chairman of the Board of Directors,
Chairman, Pension Plan Investment Committee,
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Senior Partner, Edward Jones

John W. Bachmann is senior council and past chairman of the board of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

John W. Bachmann, senior partner of Edward Jones, grew up in Salem, IL.  He received a bachelor's degree in economics from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, IN, and a master's in finance from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.  Bachmann is also a graduate of the Institute of Investment Banking at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Laws from Wabash College and an honorary Doctor of Arts from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Bachmann began his career at Edward Jones as a part-time college intern in 1959.  Upon completion of his formal education, he joined the firm full time.

Beginning in 1963, Bachmann spent seven years as a retail investment representative in Columbia, MO, and in 1970 returned to St. Louis as a general principal with responsibility for fixed-income product marketing.  He later gained experience in strategic planning, corporate finance and technology.

In 1980, Bachmann succeeded Edward D. "Ted" Jones Jr. as managing partner of Edward Jones.  Since then, he has built upon Mr. Jones' philosophy of serving the needs of individual investors from one-investment-representative offices located in communities throughout the United States and Canada.  This includes using technology in a way that directly benefits, yet is transparent to, individual investors.  During Bachmann's tenure, Edward Jones grew from 200 offices in 28 states to 8,700 offices throughout the United States and, through its affiliates, in Canada and the United Kingdom.  In 1994, the firm's Canadian affiliate, Edward Jones Canada, opened its first office.  Today, the firm has more than 550 Canadian offices.  In 1998, the firm furthered its expansion efforts, opening offices in the United Kingdom under the name of Edward Jones Limited. 

Bachmann served two terms as chairman of the Securities Industry Association in 1987 and 1988, a time of great turbulence because of the October 1987 stock market crash.  He was active on the U.S. Steering Committee for the Group of 30, an international group that examines global financial issues, and chaired a task force for the implementation of clearance and settlement reform in the U.S. securities markets.  This effort included shortening the window of investment risk.  Bachmann has been a member of the board of governors of the Chicago Stock Exchange and has served on the Regional Firms Advisory Board of the New York Stock Exchange.  He has served as chairman of District 4 for the National Association of Securities Dealers.   He also served as a member of the board of directors of Trans World Airlines from 1996 - 2001.