Manulife Mutual Funds, a division of Elliott & Page Ltd., has retained its rank as the leader in customer service among its competitors, according to a survey conducted by Environics Research group.

The 2002 Call Audit & E-mail Study measured the customer service representatives of 17 load mutual fund companies on various attributes including product knowledge, confidence and ability, and overall value added service to the client. It also measured the departments as a whole on the efficiency and accuracy of information.

Financial planners and brokers made and graded 300 telephone calls and sent 75 e-mail requests to each client services department during three phases throughout the year. The results of each phase were then combined to develop an overall ranking for the year.

Manulife Mutual Funds had the highest overall score of 89.9%, and the highest ranking by advisors and brokers of 92%.

“We are very happy to retain this honor,” said Barb Thomson, vice president mutual fund operations. “The survey has become an important benchmark to Manulife Mutual Funds as we continue to focus on the needs of our clients. We have strong competition so it’s very gratifying to know we’re still considered the best at what we do. “