Customers of top financial services performers reveal who they love in Hearts & Wallets' annual national customer satisfaction rating report.
More than 5,000 U.S. households rate their top two financial providers on service and pricing performance in the report, "Wants & Pricing: Helping Customers Purchase What They Want in Saving and Investing."
The report focuses on top-level national annual satisfaction ratings for the top 23 providers, leading brokers, banks and retirement platforms cited most often by their customers.
Customers also revealed what qualities they most want in their financial providers. According to Hearts & Wallets, "understandability" is the new top consumer desire, with 56% of consumers nationally saying "explains things in understandable terms" is important to them for service dimension attributes.
A perennial top want is tied for first, "fees are clear and understandable," also with 56%.
The report also reveals firms rated as top performers by their customers for certain qualities like understandability.
Hearts & Wallets provided a sampling of firms that were rated "top performers" or "most improved" by their customers for 13 attributes. The complete report covers 25 attributes for five key service dimensions and three pricing dimensions.
To be cited as a top performer, firms must receive ratings from their customers that are distinctly higher than the ratings customers of other firms gave to those firms. Most improved providers from the prior year are also rated significantly higher by their customers than they were the prior year.
Find out which financial providers fared well in the following 13 attributes:
Explains things in understandable terms
USAA, Edward Jones and Ameriprise Financial were the top performers in 2017. These three firms were also named top performers in 2016. Morgan Stanley and Citibank were rated as most improved in this year's survey.
Understands me and shares my values
Ameriprise, Edward Jones and USAA were all rated top performers for this attribute. Morgan Stanley and American Funds were rated "most improved."
Has made me money
According to the survey, consumers rate Edward Jones as a "top performer" in the "has made me money" category. Consumers rate Morgan Stanley as "most improved."
Well-trained staff
For the second year in a row, Ameriprise, Edward Jones and USAA were rated as top performers for having a "well-trained staff." This year, Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab also joined the "top performers."
Scottrade, Citibank and Morgan Stanley were rated as most improved.
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