Boston, MA, Dec. 20, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today DALBAR released the 2012 winners of its annual Financial Intermediary Service Award.  Allianz Life Insurance Company, BlackRock, DWS Investments, Goldman Sachs, John Hancock Annuities, Lord Abbett, and Pacific Life emerged as service leaders in 2012.

For over two decades, DALBAR has conducted rigorous testing of service and, each year identifies those firms that were found to be above their peers in service to financial professionals after a full year of comprehensive evaluation.

DALBAR found the service these firms provide to be far superior to the industry at large, particularly in the following areas:

• These firms understand that the relationship with the financial professionals who sell their products is of critical importance. The service personnel greet them with a level of professionalism and high degree of respect 86% of the time versus the industry at 64%.
   
• When a financial professional is calling the service center, it is often to check on multiple accounts or several product offerings. In light of the need to provide information on several accounts or products, the representatives re-cap the pertinent information for the financial professional before ending the discussion over 85% of the time. In comparison, the industry takes this approach only 65% of the time. 

 "In such a fast paced and rapidly changing environment, the ability to act quickly and be fully up to speed on your firm's products is key to securing the loyalty of financial professionals selling your products," said Kathleen Whalen, Managing Director at DALBAR. She added, "These firms understand this institutional imperative as reflected in the results."

The Financial Intermediary Service Award is based on systematic testing of service throughout the year. DALBAR conducts thousands of tests to measure how financial companies respond to the need for service from financial professionals. Companies that exceed a variety of industry benchmarks after one year of testing earn the Financial Intermediary Service Award.

DALBAR, Inc., the nation's leading financial services market research and consulting firm, is committed to raising the standards of excellence in the financial services industry. With offices in both the US and Canada, DALBAR develops standards for, and provides research, ratings, and rankings of intangible factors to the mutual fund, broker/dealer, life insurance, property and casualty, and managed account industries. Measurements include investor behavior, customer satisfaction, service quality, communications, Internet services, and financial professional ratings.

CONTACT: Kathleen Whalen
         617.723.6400
         KWhalen@DALBAR.com

Source: DALBAR, Inc.