A handful of financial services firms fared better than the rest when it came to the service they provided to their clients during a difficult 2009, according to strategy and operations research firm, Dalbar, Inc.

On Thursday, Dalbar announced the winners for its 2009 Mutual Fund Service Award and its 2009 Discount Brokerage Service Award.

BMO Mutual Funds and Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. are the No. 1 leading service providers in the mutual fund industry and RBC Direct Investing Inc. is the No. 1 service provider in the discount brokerage industry. Each of the firms is a past award recipient.

This is the fourth consecutive year that BMO Mutual Funds is receiving the award, Franklin Templeton has won the award for two consecutive years and RBC Direct Investing has won the award for three consecutive years.

“Earning our award in any given year is a challenge in itself but to do so after the year that we all faced was definitely no easy feat” says Anita Lo, practice leader, Dalbar Canada.

“This past year, front line service representatives were expected to demonstrate more depth to their knowledge, respond faster to inquiries, and empathize with greater sincerity, so I applaud these three firms for protecting their track record as a result of their unwavering commitment to service excellence,” Lo says.

“2009 reinforced one important thing, a firm’s front line staff who is responsible for delivering exceptional experiences over the telephone, through e-mail, and online will remain a firm’s best line of defence in times of economic unrest,” Lo concludes.

Manulife AIC placed third in Dalbar’s ranking of mutual fund companies service levels. In the discount brokerage category, BMO Investorline ranked second, while TD Waterhouse ranked third.