With the stock market booming, many investors’ trust in brokers and financial institutions to “do what is right” has ‘ decreased, according to Andrew Osterland’s recent InvestmentNews article entitled, “Brokers still in doghouse with clients, survey finds.” “The state of consumer trust in the industry is not good,” according to Julie Crothers, a senior officer of the public relations firm that performed the survey.
Forty-six percent of those surveyed said they trusted the financial services industry even less than a year ago. Forty-eight percent said it was about the same. Only five percent said they trusted the industry more than they did a year ago.
The rankings going from least trustworthy to most trustworthy are as follows: Private equity firms, investment banks, property and casualty insurers, life insurance companies, brokerage firms, large national banks, mutual fund companies, and community banks.
Investors tended to view those with whom they had face-to-face contact as more trustworthy than chief executives. This may stem from the fact that, during the period leading up to the financial crisis, many financial advisers trusted their firms to vet the securities they recommended to their clients, and, just like their clients, felt that trust was betrayed.
“It sends a clear message to the firms’ marketing divisions that CEOs may not be good spokespeople for the companies at this point,” said Ms. Crothers.
Page Perry has over 125 years collective experience representing institutional and individual investors in securities-related litigation and arbitration all over the country. While past results are not indicative of future success, Page Perry’s attorneys have recovered over $1,000,000 for clients on more than 40 occasions.