Mutual fund account statements are similar in quality in 2006 than they were two years earlier, according to findings of a recent study conducted by research firm Dalbar.

The study evaluated account statements from 22 of Canada’s largest mutual fund companies.  It identifies improvements in how statements inform investors of their capital gains during the year, avoid irrelevant information, and in their overall aesthetics.  However, it also states that the industry has been slow to evolve in areas such as providing investors with a percentage rate of return for their portfolios and telling investors how they can access information on their holdings via the Internet.

“Generally, mutual fund account statements are effective pieces of communication.  They tell investors most of what they want to know and they do it clearly.  However, in the not-too-distant future, investors will become more sophisticated and will start to ask different questions, questions that many of today’s statements do not answer,” said Mark McDonald, Dalbar's Manager of Client Relations.

The study, titled the 2006 Mutual Fund Investor Statement Analysis, is produced bi-annually and uses Dalbar's criteria to assign each company’s statement a score out of 100.  Mackenzie Investments received top marks with a score of 78.84, with AGF Funds Inc. and Dynamic Mutual Funds placing second and third with scores of 75.55 and 75.30 respectively.  CI Investments and National Bank Securities rounded out the top quartile.

Dalbar, Inc. is a leading financial services research firm with offices in Toronto and Boston, specializing in measuring the performance of institutions and financial professionals in areas such as communications effectiveness, client satisfaction, and service quality.