Brokerage firm Edward Jones plans to hire more than 1,100 new financial advisors and open hundreds of branches this year as the firm expands across the US and Canada.

The company intends to increase its US advisor force by 1,068 people, equivalent to a rise of 9 per cent, while adding 95 net new brokers in Canada, a 14 per cent hike.

"We've had an organic growth strategy for decades. We grow through good markets and down markets," said Price Woodward, an Edward Jones principal in charge of broker development, according to a report by Reuters.

"We're a little like the tortoise: we just plug along, growing 10 percent a year," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"This move shows that the reshaping of the market isn't over yet and the opportunity to hire away advisors is still there. Jones wants to capture market share and is trying to capitalize on the weakness of other firms," industry analyst Alois Pirker, research directorfor the Aite Group in Boston, told Family Wealth Report.

The firm later confirmed to Family Wealth Report that the media reports of its expansion plans were accurate.

Overall, Edward Jones will increase its broker ranks by 11 per cent, a big jump from last year but on par with the average for the past three decades. About 85 per cent of the hires will be entering the business for the first time.