Raymond James tops client satisfaction rankings

NEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters) - Raymond James (RJF.N), a U.S. brokerage, pushed aside larger firms to top an annual survey of customer satisfaction.

According to market research company J.D. Power Associates' sixth annual survey, Merrill Lynch & Co Inc MER.N, the largest brokerage by assets under management and number of advisors, came in fifth.

Other large brokerages, including Wachovia -- seventh -- and Morgan Stanley --11th -- were also behind other smaller players such as Edward Jones and UBS Financial Services (UBSN.VX) ranked second and third respectively.

The study measured investor satisfaction across a range of topics including commissions and fees, account setup and investment performance.

The 2008 Full Service Investor Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 4,528 investors who primarily invest with one of the 19 firms included in the study.

The authors of the survey, now in its sixth year, said more investors this year said investment performance was the most important driver of satisfaction, due to the difficult financial markets.

At the same time, the importance of the financial advisor or broker in determining satisfaction dropped compared with last year. (Reporting by Elinor Comlay; Editing by Derek Caney)