BMO Mutual Funds and RBC Direct Investing have earned awards for customer service in 2010, research firm Dalbar, Inc. said Tuesday.

BMO’s top spot in the mutual fund industry marks five consecutive years of award winning service by BMO for both its English & French language services.

RBC’s number one ranking in the discount brokerage industry marks the fourth consecutive year that it has earned this award.

Honourable mentions go to Franklin Templeton Investments and TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage, both companies finished second in their respective categories.

“For more than a decade, Dalbar has been evaluating how well financial companies are able to service as well as deepen and expand relationships with its clients. These consistent top performers continue to uncover areas where their firms can offer greater value to their clients,” says Anita Lo, vice president, Dalbar Canada.

“Among the industry leaders in an increasingly competitive field, we witnessed more client rapport building, and better product and brand positioning, resulting in higher client engagement.”

Driven by client preference measurements, Dalbar conducts thousands of rigorous tests each year evaluating a company’s quality of performance in product and procedural knowledge, professionalism, ease of doing business and their ability to deepen relationships with clients.

Awards are given to the companies placing first in Dalbar’s year-end rankings, which are based on systematic testing over the calendar year.

IE