AIM Trimark tops list of service providers

(July 19, 2005) AIM Trimark Investments received top marks in a recent survey of technology and internet services provided by Canadian and U.S. financial services companies.

Leading a group of 20 U.S. firms and four Canadian firms, the company ranked number one overall in the Benchmarking Internet Servicing of Advisors report, created by Forest Hills, New York-based Pyramid research.

The survey studied different company efforts to provide for advisor needs online, and innovative methods of driving advisors to company websites. AIM Trimark scored above all U.S. firms surveyed. Oppenheimer Funds, AIM (the Amvescap U.S. subsidiary), U.S. based Franklin Templeton and Wells Fargo Advantage Funds ranked second, third, fourth and fifth respectively.

In presenting the survey results, Pyramid compares AIM Trimark to a peer group of the top five companies, excluding the AIM U.S. subsidiary. Overall, the company scored 801 points in the rating system, compared to an average peer group score of 481.

“We’re very excited about it,” says AIM Trimark’s Brent St. Pierre. “It was interesting to see how we stacked up against American firms. We’ve had some studies done before and have been compared to other Canadian companies, but looking at it from a different perspective, it was nice to see that we did well there too.”

Among the findings, Pyramid says Canadian websites generally include some services that are requested by advisors in the U.S., but offered by few U.S. companies because they provide information on products other than their own, or involve documents that will not carry the company’s branding. In the U.S., the majority of firms allow advisors to select only in-house funds, while Canadian firms allow advisors to select from the entire universe of available funds.

The more open approach is no doubt, one of the factors driving popularity of offerings like the Fund Research Centre, Portfolio Sense and the In Sync financial planning software at AIM Trimark. According to primary research conducted by Pyramid, product information is a primary reason advisors visit company websites.

Portfolio Sense is an online portfolio analysis and construction tool that ties into the Fund Research Centre, which contains information on all funds sold in Canada. The programs allow advisors to chart and compare mutual funds and create reports for clients.

Last June, the company revised and re-launched the program, and has since seen it become the most popular tool on the site. In the past year advisors have created more than 40,000 proposals using the program.

“It’s really the basis of our whole website. If you want to provide an environment where advisors can get the information they need to run their businesses online, you need to have information on other funds and you need to let them build portfolios with other funds. Part of our strategy is to be an unbiased service provider,” says St. Pierre. “Our e-business offering is ultimately predicated on creating loyalty with our advisor group. Our hope is that will happen and that we’re creating loyalty within our distribution channel. That’s the goal.”

Filed by Kate McCaffery, Advisor.ca, kate.mccaffery@advisor.rogers.com