Investors have little faith in brokers

The brokerage industry continues to get a free ride from Washington and will continue gauging customers for years to come. Forking over well-placed lobbyist money does pay rewards.

The industry's three biggest firms -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Wells Fargo Advisers -- ranked below the industry average and received some of the lowest overall satisfaction scores.

The general reputation of brokerages, meanwhile, continued to sink this year despite the rebound.

An increasing proportion of investors said they believed their investment firm was driven more by profit concerns than focused on the customer.