The Beaton Research and Consulting Survey asks advisers to rate the service and support given by life insurance providers.

Sovereign was the only life insurance company to consistently score above 80% in overall satisfaction for the last four years, while AXA delivered the most improved performance over the past 12 months.

The report also revealed Sovereign had earned the strong loyalty of 78% of all the advisers surveyed, the highest score of any insurance provider.

AXA was rated as the strongest performer on BDM added value, and is regarded by advisers as the market leader in technical advice.

Beaton reported that Sovereign performed significantly above the industry on the technical advice they provided advisers on legal and regulatory matters, rated by advisers as by far the most important factor for driving overall satisfaction in 2011, which Beaton said was "most likely a reflection of the regulation changes currently underway."

Beaton Research's Rebecca Sheils said that for the advisers surveyed this year, "the technical advice regarding legal and regulatory matters comes out as being most important by a significant amount."

Sheils said Sovereign and AXA's strong performance in this key area was one of the reasons for their strong overall showing.

"AXA and Sovereign are doing well in the areas that matter most to advisers," she said.

Sovereign also performed strongly in product quality and was named as the company advisers would be most likely to recommend to colleagues, while AXA performed strongly with regard to claims service.

For Sovereign's chief distribution officer David Haak, the survey results are especially pleasing given the challenging year advisers have faced.

"We've committed a great deal of time and resources to helping advisers come to grips with the new legislation, and we're happy to see evidence that this has been valuable to them," he said.

"It's great to see such a strong performance across every category of advisers and demonstrates our commitment to providing a high level of support to all advisers."

AXA general manager, wealth protection products, Mark Ennis, said the company's strongly improved showing reflected a range of initiatives they have implemented over the years to help the adviser market.

He also said the showing should ease some of the adviser market concerns after AXA's takeover by AMP.

"I think the two companies coming together allows a scale, and for us to take the best from both organisations. It's a result we're really pleased with."