Why the Gold Standard Awards?

Excellent service is probably the main criterion that customers and advisers use to distinguish between which financial product providers they use. However, the government and regulators are pushing consumers and IFAs alike to consider a wide range of elements, including capability, financial strength, trust and fair value. As a result, in 2003 Incisive Media launched a revolutionary new awards scheme – The Gold Standards – that would assess companies performance across all these elements. No other awards do this.

When a company has won a Gold Standard Award, you can rest assured it offers a high level of service, is financially sound, offers fair value for its products, and commands trust.

The importance of assessing product providers across the wide range of elements considered by these awards cannot be overstated as both the government and regulatory bodies move towards a greater sense of partnership between financial services groups and consumers. In this new regime you will find, companies will no longer be able to hide behind walls of compliance, but will have to demonstrate commitment to the sector by helping to educate and engender trust by treating customer’s fairly. Only those companies that have a strong structure and consistent customer-orientated ethos across the board will be in the best position to achieve these requirements.

Championing a new era in consumer confidence, The Gold Standard Awards have made contributions to both the Treasury Select Committee Inquiry: Restoring Confidence in Long Term Savings and to the FSA’s initiative: Treating Customers Fairly.

What are the Gold Standard Awards?

Launched in 2003, The Gold Standard Awards aim to identify financial services companies that excel not just in service but in all five key areas important to consumers of financial products and services - financial strength, capability of the company to conduct business, service, fair value and trust. No other awards consider all these elements, making The Gold Standards the hardest, most sought after awards in the financial market place.

As a winner of a Gold Standard Award a company has proven clearly that they not only offer a high level of service, but are also financially sound, offer fair value for their products and command trust. In a nutshell, they are companies that offer service with a big plus.

Such is the high standard demanded of Gold Standard Award nominees that only a few companies make it each year. Only 23 awards have been given out across financial services since the inception of The Gold Standard Awards.

Helping restore consumer confidence in financial services, The Gold Standard Awards have made contributions to both the Treasury Select Committee Inquiry: Restoring Confidence in Long Term Savings and to the FSA’s initiative: Treating Customers Fairly.