Like any industry, the Financial Services world likes to acknowledge and reward excellence, and there are a number of awards that are designed to do precisely that. Winning the top spot is a sign that the company is highly rated by its peers and the advisers that sell the products. Companies and individual funds can be judged on a whole range of criteria including:

• Performance - be aware that past performance is not a guide to future performance
• Innovation 
• How they deal with customers

A top award doesn’t bring any guarantees that you’ll do better with that company, but it can be a useful indicator of the company’s quality.