RBC Asset Management has earned the top spot in a study assessing the quality of client services at 15 mutual fund and asset management companies in Canada, Environics Research Group announced this week.

Environics’ Call Audit study involves brokers, financial advisors and their assistants who call the client service departments at the 15 firms. The advisors measure the level of satisfaction in such areas as professionalism, level of knowledge, communication skills, initiative, efficiency, and overall willingness to offer additional help and service.

In 2008, RBC Asset Management placed first in the Canada-wide study by being ranked highest by financial advisors and their assistants who called in to the mutual fund company contact centres. The client service representatives at RBC were ranked number one for knowledgeability, initiative, and professionalism, among other attributes. They added the most extra value when answering advisors’ questions, according to Environics.

David MacDonald, vice-president at Environics Research Group, said he’s seen RBC Asset Management focus on improving the quality of its client service in recent years.

“It shows very good gains for RBC,” he said. We’ve seen them elevate their scores over the years.”

Doug Coulter, President of RBC Asset Management, said the company is dedicated to meeting the needs of advisors. “The results of this study validate our commitment providing prompt, accurate and professional service,” he said.

The study involves roughly 4,500 calls per year. It has been conducted for 10 years, and MacDonald said he has witnessed a strong correlation between high quality client service and advisor satisfaction.

“Many of those who have worked with the Call Audit program over the years have seen their scores rise significantly as a result of the learnings that come from it and the feedback it provides for training their client services representatives,” he said.

MacDonald added that the client service departments at mutual fund and asset management firms have an important role to play in representing the companies.

“CSRs are one of the front line faces of the company, and play an extremely important role,” he said.

IE