| 12 August 2009

A new study released by Phoenix Marketing International shows that Charles Schwab (SCHW), Fidelity, T. Rowe Price (TROW) and Vanguard "command the most favorable overall impression among firms well-known to investors."

PMI also asked respondents about print and TV ads for 12 leading financial brands. MassMutual Financial Group had the "most effective" print ad and Fidelity produced the "most effective" TV ad, though PMI did not define what they mean by "effective" nor did they state which ads actually won.

Kristina Terzieva, Product Manager for the study did say that, "Most successful ads share a number of common strengths observed in recent years by Phoenix and promote the offerings of Fidelity..." and other firms. So apparently the more effective ads focus on products and offerings.

The study interviewed 757 so-called affluent investors, though we might bicker with their definition of "affluent." According to PMI an "affluent" investor is between 35 and 64 years old with at least $100,000 in household income and "investable" assets. Most firms would peg affluent at somewhere north of $250,000 of "investable" assets alone, but we doubt this difference changes the results much.