Retirement Advisors Like Securian Best According to Survey

ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Securian Retirement beat the average score in 48 of 51 categories in a satisfaction survey of financial advisors who market retirement plans.

The advisors ranked their satisfaction with 20 retirement plan providers regarding investments, wholesalers, cost and compensation, product features, sales and marketing support, service, and image.

"Advisor satisfaction and loyalty is a key to success in the retirement plan business," said Vince Giordano, VP, sales, Securian Retirement. "Ninety four percent of our clients say they would recommend us because we bend over backwards to give them what they need. And we work just as hard to support the advisors who represent us. This survey proves advisors are very happy with the job we're doing for them."

In dozens of categories, Securian outscored the survey norm in terms of the number of "excellent" ratings given by advisors. The areas of greatest satisfaction had to do with Securian's wholesalers. Eighty-seven percent of the advisors rated Securian wholesalers excellent in terms of their availability, which is 35 points higher than the norm of 52 percent. Eighty-four percent ranked Securian's wholesalers excellent for their expertise, beating the norm by 28 points. Other categories where Securian beat the norm by a wide margin include:

• Percent of funds from providers' proprietary investments      Securian – 66%, Norm – 33%
• Participant statements                                                            Securian – 68%, Norm – 41%
• Making fees transparent and easy to explain to employer     Securian – 74%, Norm – 39%
• Cost of employee education programs                                  Securian – 69%, Norm – 38%

In terms of overall satisfaction, 74 percent of advisors rated Securian excellent—20 points higher than the next highest company's ranking, and 31 points higher than the norm of 43%.

For the study, retirement advisors in the 401(k) Exchange database were asked to provide satisfaction and loyalty ratings for their top three retirement plan providers. The survey was conducted in 2009 with 31 advisors providing input regarding Securian Retirement.

Since 1880, Securian Financial Group and its affiliates have provided financial security for individuals and businesses in the form of insurance, investments and retirement plans. Now one of the nation's largest financial services providers, it is the holding company parent of a group of companies that include Minnesota Life Insurance Company.

Boston Research Group (BRG) is a strategic market research and consulting firm that specializes in the financial services industry. BRG conducts projects that deal with both strategic and tactical marketing issues, including loyalty and satisfaction, market segmentation, brand assessment, product development, sales processes, and channel migration and distribution strategies.

SOURCE Securian Financial Group