After a year that saw many of Canada’s largest mutual fund companies provide improved service to their unitholders, AIC Group of Funds has captured the 2003 Mutual Fund Service Award for service to English-speaking clients, DALBAR announced today.

The company’s combination of knowledgeable and professional service representatives, along with its responsiveness to electronic mail inquiries, helped propel it above the other 16 companies tested as part of DALBAR’s rigorous evaluations. Other companies ranking in the industry’s top quartile were Altamira Investment Services, BMO Mutual Funds, and RBC Asset Management.

“2003 was a year in which many companies took steps to ensure they were serving their unitholders to the best of their ability,” said Mark McDonald, DALBAR’s client relationship manager. “In the end, AIC came out at the top of the heap.”

DALBAR’s award for service to French-speaking clients was given to Altamira, for the fifth consecutive year. Other companies finishing in the top quartile were National Bank Securities and RBC.

The awards are based on evaluations made over a calendar year in four main categories: service quality delivered by live telephone representatives, effectiveness of mail and e-mail communication, ease of access to live representatives, and mail delivery times. By playing the role of the unitholder, DALBAR says it actively experiences the service that the average Canadian mutual fund investor would receive.