Financial service professionals typically receive more than 100 communications from the firms they work with, according to new survey.

The average financial advisor manages 14 product-provider relationships, producing more than 100 emails, mailings, wholesaler visits and internal sales desk calls every month from those firms, according to Cogent Research’s new Advisor Touchpoints 2009.

The study used data collected online survey results from a sample of 1,529 advisors in the United States with a minimum of $5 million in assets under management.

The most active variable annuity provider is Nationwide Life Insurance Co., which averages 12 monthly contacts with those advisors currently using its products, the report said.

The most active communicators among mutual fund firms are John Hancock Funds and Evergreen Investments, with each averaging about 16 advisor-client contacts per month. Black Rock, Fidelity Investments/Advisor Funds and Putnam Investments also post double digit monthly “touches,” compared to the overall average of seven for the mutual fund industry. Among exchange traded fund providers, Rydex is the most active firm, posting 11 client contacts per month, compared to the overall ETF industry average of five advisor contacts.

The report notes that firms best at keeping advisors feeling “personally connected” include mutual fund firms American Funds, Franklin Templeton, PIMCO and Fidelity Investments/Advisor Funds, while emerging fund players

The Hartford and Russell Investments also demonstrate a keen ability to connect with advisors. Meanwhile, iShares sets the standard for ETF providers, and variable annuity providers Jackson National Life and Prudential Financial both produce winning advisor communication strategies, according to the report.

“Clearly, when it comes to outreach strategies, it’s not only about quantity. It’s also about quality,” said Cogent principal and co-founder John Meunier in a statement. “Over the past year, firms that brought real ideas to the table, from both a product and practice standpoint, have been rewarded with a stronger bond to the advisors they serve.”