Rating the Web Brokers

Seemingly every financial magazine has weighed in on the subject of the best online brokers. Wednesday, Agoura Hills-based J.D. Power & Associates, the company best known for its car customer surveys, released its ranking of such brokers. The survey of 2,740 online investors found that the top overall scorers, Charles Schwab and Fidelity, attracted the wealthiest and most experienced investors. The study found that problem resolution is a challenge for online investment firms. Of the 11% of respondents who reported a serious problem with their online broker, nearly 60% reported being very dissatisfied with the way the problem was resolved.

Customer satisfaction index scores

Chalres Schwab: 110

Fidelity: 108

Datek Online: 105

Waterhouse: 103

Accutrade: 104

Discover: 100

Industry average: 100

T. Rowe Price: 98

DLJDirect: 97

E-Trade: 97

Citibank: 95

Ameritrade: 95

Quick & Reilly: 91

Dreyfus: 90

Suretrade: 83

*Industry Average: 100

*

Most important factors to investors*

Customer service: 26%

Information/education: 19%

Integrity/reputation: 19%

Trade processing: 17%

Portfolio management: 12%

Fees/commissions: 7%

*All six factors were used to determine overall customer satisfaction scores.

Source: J.D. Power & Associates