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MFS, AIM, Pacific Life, and Hartford are Favorites in the Home Office - American Funds, OppenheimerFunds, Putnam, & Delaware are the Favorites in the Back Office

(Boston, MA. November 5, 2003) DALBAR today released the results of a survey of marketing and operations managers that ranked mutual fund and annuity firms based on their support to the broker dealers.

By and large the biggest firms came out on top, with overall ratings far higher than those for the mid-size firms.

• Four of the largest fund companies earned “Very Good” Designations for Overall Operations Support, a designation that is out of reach for the mid-size firms.
• Two of the largest annuity firms earned “Very Good” Designations for Overall Marketing Support, again, a rating beyond the reach of the smaller annuity providers.

WM Group of Funds made significant headway this year, moving from a ranking of 22 last year to the #1 ranked mid-size mutual fund firm. While The Hartford took the top spot in most categories, the Overall Marketing Support Category went to WM Group.

American Funds suffered the worst decline among the market leaders, falling from 3rd to 7th in Overall Marketing Support. The firm suffered most in Understanding the Broker Dealer’s Business and Wholesaling Support.

The following chart lists the top rated firms in the opinion of Marketing Managers at the broker dealer home office:

Overall Marketing Support	MFS & AIM	WM Group	Pacific Life	The Hartford (Leaders)
Ease of Doing Business	AIM	The Hartford	Pacific Life	The Hartford (Leaders)
Understanding the BD’s Business	AIM	The Hartford	Pacific Life	The Hartford (Leaders)
In person and Inside Wholesaler Support	MFS, AIM, OppenheimerFunds	The Hartford	The Hartford (Director), Pacific Life, Nationwide	The Hartford (Leaders)
Key Account Contact	AIM, MFS	WM Group	Pacific Life	MetLife
Sales Material	American Funds	The Hartford	Pacific Life	The Hartford (Leaders)

The following chart lists the top rated firms in the opinion of Operations Managers at the broker dealer back office:

	Mutual Fund Market Leader	Mutual Fund Mid-Size	VA Market Leader	VA Mid-Size>
Overall Operations Support	Putnam, OppenheimerFunds, American	Delaware, Janus	The Hartford (Director)	The Hartford (Leaders)
Ease of Doing Business	American, OppenheimerFunds	Janus, T. Rowe Price	The Hartford (Director)	The Hartford (Leaders)
Problem Resolution	American, OppenheimerFunds	Janus	Pacific Life	The Hartford (Leaders)
Back Office Visits	MFS	Delaware	Pacific Life	The Hartford (Leaders)
Transaction Processing	American Funds, OppenheimerFunds	Delaware, Janus	The Hartford (Director	The Hartford (Leaders)
Understanding the Broker Dealer’s Business	Putnam, OppenheimerFunds	Delaware, Janus	The Hartford (Director)	The Hartford (Leaders)

The survey was conducted in July and August and represents responses from 153 broker dealer firms. The full report is available by contacting DALBAR at 617-723-6400 or at info@dalbar.com

DALBAR, Inc., the nation’s leading financial-services market research firm, is committed to raising the standards of excellence in the financial-services industry. With offices in both the US and Canada, DALBAR develops standards for, and provides research, ratings, and rankings of intangible factors to the mutual fund, broker/dealer, discount brokerage, life insurance, and banking industries. They include investor behavior, customer satisfaction, service quality, communications, Internet services, and financial-professional ratings.

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