Client satisfaction with advisors at major firms is on the decline, according to the latest results on the sector from the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
The index measured satisfaction with financial advisors for the first time last year—though they only ranked eight named firms, as well as providing a bucket for “independent RIAs” to presumably cover the wide swath of independent practices. Notable names are absent from their survey, including Edward Jones. Still, overall satisfaction with financial advisors was down 1.2 percent from a year ago to an ACSI score of 80 (based on a scale of zero to 100). At the same time, satisfaction with the fee-based independent advisors grouping improved 3 percent to a score of 81, bringing RIAs up to the No. 2 spot on ACSI’s list, behind customer satisfaction with advisors at Charles Schwab, presumably those based in the firm's branches and banks.
LPL Financial took the biggest hit this year, with satisfaction falling 5 percent from 2017 to 78.
Financial advisor firms, overall, scored well on the quality of their mobile apps and ease of opening accounts. But they received low scores on providing mobile options for account management and the frequency of personal contact.
The ASCI interviews hundreds of customers about recent experiences with their financial advisors. It then inputs that data into ACSI’s proprietary model, which embeds customer satisfaction within a series of cause-and-effect relationships.
The following firms (as well as independent RIAs as a group) are ranked by overall customer satisfaction. We also include data about client satisfaction with their investment performance and with the clarity of the advisors’ explanation of their financial plans.
