Scottrade named to FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies to Work For list for the first time

Scottrade named to FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies to Work For list for the first time.

Scottrade's impressive growth has led to creation of jobs, opportunities for associates across the country

Scottrade, a leading online investment firm, has been ranked 58th on the 11th annual "100 Best Companies to Work For" list. This is the firm's first time on the list.

"It is an honor to be recognized as one of the best companies to work for in America," said Scottrade Founder, President and CEO Rodger Riney. "We firmly believe that our wonderful associates and the outstanding customer service they deliver is the key to our success since we started 28 years ago."

A driving factor for the list this year is that these companies excel in creating jobs. The 100 companies on the 2008 list added 67,000 employees to their payrolls in the past year and employ a total of nearly 1.6 million employees; up 16 percent from the number employed by companies comprising last year's list.

Scottrade currently has more than 300 job openings due to the firm's tremendous growth and desire to promote from within whenever possible. In 2007, Scottrade hired more than 500 people, a 46 percent increase over 2006. Additionally, more than 500 associates were promoted in 2007, a 27 percent increase over the prior year.

As a leading employer in St. Louis and through 336 branch offices across the country, Scottrade offers many unique benefits, including a Wellness Reimbursement Assistance Program that reimburses qualified associates up to $250 annually for "wellness expenses," such as a gym or health club membership, smoking cessation program, weight loss program, nutritionist fees and fitness courses.

FORTUNE singled out Scottrade's internship program, which employs 200 college students each year, as a unique program offered by the firm. Scottrade recruits from more than 500 colleges and universities across the country, providing students with the opportunity to learn about the financial industry, and perhaps move into a full-time career. In fact, more than 20 percent of Scottrade's current branch managers began their careers at Scottrade as interns.

"Scottrade has really given me a place to grow as a person," said Wende Rhodes, Assistant Director of Branch Administration at Scottrade's corporate headquarters in St. Louis. "It's really rare to find a business or company where you can imagine yourself being there for the rest of your career. That's the kind of atmosphere that I feel like it has. I can see myself staying here."

"Scottrade is one of the best things that has ever happened to my family," said Tim Ball, a branch manager in Lubbock, Texas. "It has been a wonderful opportunity and I appreciate every day that Rodger had the foresight to take a chance by opening the Lubbock branch."
"Scottrade firmly believes in promoting from within," said Jane Wulf, Scottrade's Chief Administrative Officer, who also oversees Human Resources. "Part of our mission statement says that we will promote a corporate culture that provides our associates with the opportunities, technology and training to achieve success in both their career and personal development. We have focused on that over the years and it has paid off."

Scottrade has another year of tremendous growth planned in 2008, with the opening of 48 additional branch offices and plans to hire nearly 400 more associates.

"I am so proud of everything Scottrade and our associates have accomplished," Riney said. "While this is the first year that Scottrade has been on the FORTUNE list, I don't believe it is the first year that Scottrade has been a great place to work. I want to thank our associates for working hard day after day to make Scottrade the company that it is today."

To pick the "100 Best Companies to Work for", FORTUNE works with Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz of the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America. Of some 1,500 firms that were contacted, 406 companies participated in this year's survey. Nearly 100,000 employees at those companies responded to a 57-question survey created by the Great Place to Work Institute, a global research and consulting firm with offices in 30 countries. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about the management's credibility, job satisfaction and camaraderie.

Most of the company's score (two-thirds) is based on the results of the survey, which is sent to a minimum of 400 randomly selected employees from each company. The other third of the scoring is based on the company's responses to the Institute's Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, methods of internal communications, training, recognition programs and diversity efforts, etc.

The FORTUNE ranking is one of several notable rankings and awards that Scottrade has received in the last year:
- In October, Scottrade was named Highest in Investor Satisfaction with Online Investing Services for the seventh time by J.D. Power and Associates. Also in October, InformationWeek named Scottrade to the InformationWeek 500, a list of the most innovative users of information technology.
- In September, the American Society for Training & Development awarded Scottrade its 2007 BEST Award for associate training excellence.
- In June, Scottrade won the 2007 CIO 100 award for operational and strategic excellence in information technology.
- In May, Scottrade won the Online Brokerage Category of the 2007 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index for the second consecutive year.
- In February, Scottrade was named a Training Top 125 winner by Training magazine.

About Scottrade

Scottrade is a leader in online investing, serving individual investors who are comfortable making their own investment decisions. Scottrade is unique in the industry because it boasts low commission rates while offering the largest branch network among online brokerages, with 336 local branch offices nationwide. In October, Scottrade was named Highest in Investor Satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates for the seventh time. Scottrade.com is the online trading site of Scottrade, Inc. and offers customers the convenience of placing many orders online for just $7 per trade. In addition to its online capabilities, Scottrade staffs each easily accessible branch location with a branch manager plus additional brokers and assistants. For more on Scottrade, visit http://www.scottrade.com/ or visit Scottrade's Career Center, www.scottrade.com/careers to view current job openings.