Citi Recognized for Superior Service by National Quality Review
Citi receives NQR's 5-Star Rating for Mutual Fund
Transaction Processing and Related Telephone Support
New York - Citi's Global Transaction Services business today announced that its mutual fund processing services and call center support services have received the 5-Star performance rating in 2007 from National Quality Review (NQR). This marks the fifth consecutive year in which Citi has been a 5-Star performer in the mutual fund processing category -- a notable achievement and a unique distinction in the financial services industry.
Mr. Mark Rayford, Senior Vice President of ProFund Advisors, LLC, a client of Citi's mutual fund administrative services, said, "We are pleased that Citi is being honored and recognized by NQR. As an independent and reputable ratings firm, NQR validates our confidence in Citi's mutual fund processing services. In addition, the NQR 5-Star rating further underscores Citi's commitment to providing the highest quality of service and support to mutual fund company clients and our shareholders."
NQR systematically monitors and analyzes the service quality of financial services organizations with a comprehensive suite of service performance measurement, quality assessment, and statistical reporting tools. Its 5-Star rating is awarded to organizations within the top quartile of their competitive benchmark with statistical, long-term service performance measured over a 12-month period.
Citi's 5-Star rating is based on NQR's transaction processing review, which encompasses a detailed analysis and rating of overall processing activities, including the accuracy and timeliness of the mutual fund transactions Citi processes. Daily transactions were randomly selected from all of Citi Fund Services' clients and reviewed for accuracy and timeliness based on transfer agent operating procedures and specific fund policies.
According to Fred Naddaff, Managing Director of Citi's North America Fund Services division, "We are honored to have earned this prestigious distinction for our mutual fund service performance. This designation recognizes our efforts to provide the best customer service quality in the industry. Winning NQR's 5-Star rating is a direct result of our dedicated service professionals' focus on quality, accuracy, and responsiveness. In addition, it highlights the high standards our service organization strives to achieve for our services overall, and, ultimately, the shareholder experience."
About National Quality Review
Founded in 1991, NQR offers a unique perspective to its clients on service quality performance. NQR's financial services clients include 80 percent of the top 20 mutual fund companies in the U.S. NQR's founding partners and staff specialize in service performance measurement, quality assessment, training, survey design, and statistical reporting. NQR has a staff of 75 financial service professionals with backgrounds in load and no-load mutual funds, insurance and variable annuity operations. The staff has an average of more than 15 years experience in financial services. Many of the individuals have earned Series 6, 63, or 7 licenses.
About ProFunds Group
ProFunds Group, located in Bethesda, Md., is the nation's largest provider of short and leveraged ETFs and mutual funds. It includes both ProFunds mutual funds, with more than $6 billion in assets under management, and ProShares ETFs, with $17 billion. ProFunds offers more than 100 mutual fund choices. Since 1997, ProFunds has provided mutual fund investors with easier access to sophisticated investment strategies, with offerings that include mutual funds that seek to magnify daily index performance and funds that seek to increase in value when markets decline. ProShares, launched in 2006, offers 62 ETFs that provide short or magnified exposure to a variety of well-known indexes. ProFunds Group describes the portfolio managers common to ProFund Advisors LLC, advisor to ProFunds mutual funds, and ProShare Advisors LLC, advisor to ProShares ETFs. More information on ProFunds is available at www.ProFunds.com and on ProShares at www.ProShares.com.
About Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Citi's major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Nikko. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com. Additional information about Citi's securities and fund services may be found at www.transactionservices.citigroup.com or visit our enterprise website of financial solutions at www.citi.com.
