CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2006--
Insurance Companies Climb; Full-Service Brokerages Tumble
Some of the biggest and best-known financial services firms in
America scored the lowest in Forrester Research Inc.'s (Nasdaq: FORR)
third annual customer advocacy rankings. Based on a survey of nearly
5,000 consumers, the rankings rate 32 leading US financial services
firms according to the key driver of customer loyalty. The scorecard
was released today at Forrester's Finance Forum 2006 in New York.
Customer advocacy is the perception on the part of consumers that
their financial services firm does what's best for its customers, not
just the firm's own bottom line. For the third consecutive year, USAA
retained the top spot in Forrester's rankings, followed by credit
unions, GEICO, AAA, State Farm, and Vanguard. Bank of America, Morgan
Stanley, National City, Citibank, and JP Morgan Chase, round out the
bottom of this year's list.
"Our research continues to point to customer advocacy as the
strongest indicator of future purchase intent," said Bill Doyle, vice
president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. "We believe
that firms with high organic growth -- like those at the top of the
customer advocacy rankings -- are best positioned to grow in the
coming years as intense competition forces firms to focus on selling
more to their existing customers, rather than growing by merger and
acquisition."
Highlights from the Forrester report:
-- Familiar faces continue to dominate. USAA, credit unions, AAA,
State Farm, Vanguard, and Edward Jones have consistently
landed at the top of the rankings for the past three years.
All of these customer-owned or partner-owned firms have been
able to grow revenues organically, a testament to the
favorable economics of customer advocacy.
-- Insurance companies cluster near the top. As a sector,
property and casualty insurers rate highest, with GEICO,
Safeco, and MetLife all improving their rankings significantly
over last year. GEICO and Progressive go so far as to promote
rate comparisons, one of the best ways to demonstrate customer
advocacy.
-- Full-service brokerages tumble. Smith Barney, Merrill Lynch,
and Morgan Stanley are now in the bottom third of all firms.
The full-service brokerage model is under assault from
direct-to-consumer firms like E*Trade, which rose
significantly in the rankings this year. E*Trade has made rate
and fee transparency a priority -- part of a concerted effort
to improve the firm's customer advocacy.
"Customer Advocacy 2006: How Consumers Rate Their Banks,
Brokerages, and Insurers" is available to WholeView 2(TM) clients and
can be found at www.forrester.com.
About Forrester Research
Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR) is an independent technology and
market research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking
advice about technology's impact on business and consumers. For 22
years, Forrester has been a thought leader and trusted advisor,
helping global clients lead in their markets through its research,
consulting, events, and peer-to-peer executive programs. For more
information, visit www.forrester.com.
(C) 2006, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Forrester
and WholeView are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc.
CONTACT: Forrester Research, Inc.
Jon Symons, 617-613-6104
press@forrester.com
SOURCE: Forrester Research
