BOSTON, Dec. 8, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today DALBAR released the 2014 winners of its annual Annuity Service Award. AIG Variable Annuities, AXA, Genworth, New York Life, Pacific Life and Prudential Financial emerged as the titans of customer service in 2014.
For nearly three decades, DALBAR has conducted rigorous testing of service delivery via its Service Quality Measurement Programs. Each year, DALBAR identifies those annuity firms that rise above their peers in service to clients after a full year of comprehensive evaluation and recognizes these elite institutions with the DALBAR Service Award.
These winners have proven to be service leaders in the industry in many ways, including:
- Always catering to the importance of the relationship and showing genuine care and respect when conversing with contract holders. This was found to be the case in 95% of all service conversations of the above mentioned winners vs. 67% of the rest of the annuity industry.
- Delivering superior level service on a consistent basis. The DALBAR Service Award was first introduced 17 years ago and New York Life has earned it 15 times, Pacific Life and Prudential Financial 14 times, AXA 10 times, Genworth 9 times and AIG Variable Annuities 8 times.
"With all else being equal, service is the key to differentiation," said Kathleen Whalen, Managing Director at DALBAR. She added, "These firms recognize the service advantage, have made a commitment to excellence and have the track record to prove it."
The DALBAR Service Award is based on systematic testing of customer service throughout the year. DALBAR conducts thousands of tests to measure how financial companies respond to the service needs of their customers. Companies that exceed the award level benchmarks after one year of testing earn the DALBAR Annuity Service Award.
DALBAR, Inc. is the financial community's leading independent expert for evaluating, auditing and rating business practices, customer performance, product quality and service. Launched in 1976, DALBAR has earned the recognition for consistent and unbiased evaluations of insurance companies, investment companies, registered investment advisers, broker/dealers, retirement plan providers and financial professionals. DALBAR awards are recognized as the marks of excellence in the financial community.