The institutional custody arm of RBC Financial Group has been ranked No. 1 overall in an annual survey by London-based R&M Consultants.

RBC Global Services, Institutional and Investor Services was ranked as the best global custodian, according to R&M’s 2005 Global Custody Survey, the bank said in a release Monday.

“Being selected as the top overall provider in this very competitive survey speaks volumes about the quality of our people and their ongoing commitment to placing our clients first,” said Rob Wright, managing director, RBC Global Fund Services.

RBC Global Services was also named the top provider of global custody services in the U.K., the leading provider of global custody services to investment managers (direct) and the No. 1 provider of global custody services to pension funds and other financial institutions.

R&M Consultants specializes in providing market research to financial institutions. Based upon responses from investment managers, pension funds, charities and other financial institutions around the world, the British-based survey measures client satisfaction with the services performed by global custodians.