(January 5 – 18:15 ET) – AIC Group of Funds has received the DALBAR Mutual Fund Service Award for 2000, recognized as the highest achievement of customer service within the mutual fund industry.

“We are honored to receive this prestigious award in recognition of the service we provide to AIC investors across Canada,” said Michael Lee-Chin, chairman and chief investment officer. “For more than 15 years, we have firmly maintained our commitment to service excellence together with our belief in following a buy-and-hold investment philosophy that serves well the interests of long-term investors.”

DALBAR is an independent research firm for the financial services industry, measuring the performance of institutions and financial professionals in areas such as service quality, client satisfaction, and communications effectiveness. The selection of the winner for this award is based on findings from the Performance Evaluation of Mutual Fund Service Program.

In its survey of mutual fund companies, DALBAR established mutual fund accounts at 18 of Canada’s largest mutual fund providers and employed quantitative and qualitative measures to determine the service ranking.

This process includes evaluating how well service representatives accommodate client inquiries, their knowledge, attitude, telephone etiquette, and timely responsiveness to client requests for information packages. Phone, mail and email service are all evaluated.
-IE Staff