Chapel Hill, NC/ February 3, 2010:  According to semi-annual research just released by Phoenix Marketing International, investment firms must be perceived as trustworthy and able to weather difficult times in order to attract consideration from prospective customers.

"Financial services firms offering products and services for retirement must be perceived as trustworthy, that they conduct their business with the highest ethical standards, and are financially stable.  They must also demonstrate that they are well positioned to weather the economic crisis and they care about their customers.  Advertisers who promote these messages have the greatest success in the retirement category," stated Kristina Terzieva, Phoenix Product Manager for the study.

The Phoenix study found that Fidelity, Vanguard, and American Funds command the most favorable overall impression among firms well known to investors.  Fidelity and Vanguard also receive top brand consideration among affluent investors.  Prudential and John Hancock are leaders among the most important criteria used when selecting providers of retirement products.

The Phoenix study also found that 50% of investor households have experienced a moderately negative impact from the recent economic crisis, while 42% had been relatively unharmed or have seen some improvement despite the crisis.  Nearly half indicated that they moved from riskier to more conservative investments in the past year, but the proportion who intend to do so in the next six months has dropped significantly (to 17%) and fewer intend to hold steady in their investment positions in the near term, compared with the past year (31% vs. 39%.).

Small community banks and mutual fund firms stand out as the most trustworthy, while credit card companies are viewed with the greatest distrust.

The Phoenix study was conducted among 850 individual investors age 35 to 64 with household income and investable assets (excluding employer-sponsored retirement plans) of at least $100k.  Findings were representative of U.S. investors grouped by age and state of residence.

A summary of study is available for purchase from Phoenix.   Also reported are detailed evaluations of 13 Print and 19 TV advertisements for 10 leading brands: John Hancock, Lincoln Financial, MassMutual Financial Group, MetLife, Northwestern Mutual, NY Life, Oppenheimer, Pacific Life, Prudential, and The Principal.

"Most successful ads share a number of common strengths observed in recent years by Phoenix. Among them are TV and Print ads from The Principal, Lincoln Financial, Pacific Life, MassMutual, and John Hancock," observed Terzieva.

According to the study, the most effective print ad was for Lincoln Financial, while Pacific Life had the most highly regarded TV ad.

Source: Phoenix Marketing International

CONTACT: Kristina Terzieva, Product Manager/Retirement Services Research, Phoenix Marketing International, +1-508-647-0151, Kristina.Terzieva@Phoenixmi.com