Mercer rises in race for Research House of the Year

Strong performances across a range of categories has seen Mercer’s standing among financial planning dealer groups rise, the second part of Money Management’s Rate the Raters survey reveals.

Mercer’s ratings improved on the 2013 survey in the three categories identified as being the most important to dealer groups over the last 12 months.

Among the most significant improvements, the ratings house recorded a significant rise in dealer group’s perception of its fund and fund company research – which respondents ranked as the most ‘essential’ service ratings agencies provide – with the 2014 survey revealing that the company had turned a 75 per cent ‘poor’ rating in 2013 on its head, with three-quarters of respondents describing Mercer’s offering as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.

In the second most important category for dealer groups, Mercer again recorded showed signs of improvement, with one-in-four respondents classifying them as ‘excellent’, a rise from zero in 2013.

Mercer’s client service also recorded a notable boost in performance, with 50 per cent of respondents describing it as ‘good’ compared to 14.3 per cent in last year’s survey.

While there were a number of positive results for Mercer from the 2014 Rate the Raters Dealer Group survey, the research house did not improve across all categories, with two-thirds of respondents classifying its website information and tools as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ this year, down from its 100 per cent ‘good’ rating in 2013.

For more on the Rate the Raters Dealer Group survey results, and to find out which ratings house has secured the title of Research House of the Year, see tomorrow’s print edition of Money Management or visit MoneyManagement.com.au later this week.