Boston, Dec. 3, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today DALBAR released the 2012 winners of its annual Annuity Service Award. AXA Equitable-Equivest, Genworth, New York Life, Pacific Life, Prudential Financial and SunAmerica Annuity and Life Assurance Company emerged as the leaders in customer service in 2012.

For over two decades, DALBAR has conducted rigorous testing of service delivery and, each year identifies those annuity firms that were found to be above their peers in service to clients after a full year of comprehensive evaluation.

Important service attributes that dramatically and clearly differentiate these firms from the industry at large include:

• When call center representatives at these firms initially engage clients, they make a positive first impression by showing sincere appreciation for their business more than 90% of the time. This compares to an industry average of 61%.
   
• Understanding the importance of leaving a lasting impression with clients, these firms excel at adding value beyond the initial requests.  This is found more than 80% of the time, compared to the industry average of 55%.
   
• Consistency in delivering at a superior level. This award was first introduced 15 years ago and New York Life has earned it 13 times, Pacific Life and Prudential Financial, 12 times, AXA Equitable-Equivest, 8 times, SunAmerica Annuity and Life Assurance Company, 6 times and Genworth has earned it 4 times. 

"These firms recognize that consistent attention to customer service helps secure loyalty during weak economic times", said Kathleen Whalen, Managing Director at DALBAR.

The award is based on systematic testing of customer service throughout the year. DALBAR conducts thousands of tests to measure how financial companies respond to the need for service from their customers. Companies that exceed a variety of industry benchmarks after one year of testing earn the DALBAR Annuity Service Award.

DALBAR, Inc., the nation's leading financial services market research and consulting 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, life insurance, property and casualty, and managed account industries. Measurements include investor behavior, customer satisfaction, service quality, communications, Internet services, and financial professional ratings.

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CONTACT: Kathleen Whalen
         617.723.6400
         KWhalen@DALBAR.com

Source: DALBAR, Inc.