In a survey of 3,129 financial intermediaries on their opinions of leading mutual fund companies, the top three rated brands are American Funds, Barclays iShares and Ivy Funds, kasina and Horsesmouth found.
Other key findings are that iShares is seen as the most innovative, PIMCO the most sophisticated and Franklin Templeton as the most global.
“While many of the traditional intermediary-distributed fund companies are viewed positively by advisers, we were glad to see that the hard work of some newer players is being recognized as well,” said Lee Kowarski, kasina principal.
“American Funds has certainly established itself as a leader in several areas,
including consistency, dedication to advisors, ease of doing business, and trustworthiness<” Kowarski continued. “Other firms were
also well received, particularly in certain niches. iShares and Ivy Funds, for example, were viewed as
exceptionally innovative, PIMCO as especially sophisticated, and Vanguard as the least expensive.”
The 10 measures that advisers were asked to consider in relation to the fund companies were: consistency, dedication to advisers, ease of doing business with, ethics, global reach, low expenses, innovation, social consciousness, sophistication and trustworthiness.
In order, the list of the top 10 brands follows:
1. American Funds
2. iShares/Barclays
3. Ivy Funds
4. PIMCO / Allianz Funds
5. Vanguard Group
6. Franklin Templeton Investments
7. BlackRock
8. Fidelity/Fidelity Advisors
9. JPMorgan Asset Management
10. Natixis Funds
