Client service greatly influences institutional investors' satisfaction, and can be managed regardless of the economic climate or investment performance, according to a research study released Monday by Chatham Partners and Investment Metrics.
The study found that 60% of overall satisfaction could be attributed to investment performance, but this could often be cyclical and unpredictable. In contrast, 40% of client satisfaction is attributable to service-related factors that can be delivered consistently. Moreover, managing customer service is not a singular act, but rather a broad collection of activities that combine to create high overall satisfaction levels.
"It is too easy to assume that investor satisfaction is dependent on portfolio performance —it isn't always about the numbers," Susan Benedetto, director at Investment Metrics, said in a statement. "Investment Metrics and Chatham Partners wanted to determine how asset managers could differentiate themselves during both lucrative and unprofitable economic times."
The top five factors attributable to client service, in order of importance:
- Market/investment knowledge of portfolio team
- Clarity of investment reports
- Problem resolution skills of client service representative
- Frequency of contact of client service representative
- Timeliness of investment reports
The research mapped Chatham Partners' client satisfaction surveys and the portfolios they represented to the institutional investment performance reporting and analytics database provided by Investment Metrics' InvestWorks platform.
