Methodology

Throughout the year, our experts analyse market developments, conduct consumer research and hold discussions with the industry about the most important features and benefits when purchasing financial products.

Our experts select the most important features and benefits for each product area. We use these features to score all the products in the market between 1 to 5, with a score of 5 denoting that the product has the highest characteristics for that element; a score of 1 indicates it has the lowest.

By totalling the scores, each product is assigned a Star Rating on a scale from 1 – 5.

We also use ‘core criteria’. These are features and benefits that a product has to offer to be considered a 4 or 5 Star Rating. If a product fails any core criteria test it will automatically be given a lower Star Rating.

This rigorous process happens every year. It ensures that new features are included in the scoring process where appropriate, so that the Star Ratings criteria are as relevant as possible.

We update Defaqto Star Ratings annually on 1 February. Any products launched or changed during the following 12 months, are scored against the criteria, and given the appropriate Star Rating. You can see all Star Ratings on our website.

The Star Ratings data also feeds into our research and comparison tools: Defaqto Matrix, Defaqto Engage and Defaqto Compare. These tools allow both qualitative and quantitative comparisons of product features and benefits across a wide range of financial industry sectors.