More than five years later, the 2008 global financial crisis continues to have long-lasting consequences. One unsurprising side effect of the crisis is that it has led to increased public cynicism about our economic and political institutions, and about the financial services industry as a whole.
The CFA Institute, a group of global leaders that work to raise the standard of professional excellence in the investment industry, recently conducted a survey that confirmed a strong need to rebuild trust in finance. This wide-ranging study surveyed more than 2,100 individual and institutional investors in the U.S. and abroad, and found that although 73% of investors believe they have fair opportunity to profit by investing in capital markets, only 53% of investors trust investment firms to do what is right. In response to these findings, the Institute recently launched the Future of Finance initiative as a global effort to shape a trustworthy, forward-thinking financial industry that better serves society.
Part of that initiative included the development of a “Statement of Investor Rights” to advise buyers of financial services of the conduct they are entitled to expect from financial service providers. These rights reflect the fundamental ethical principles that are critical to achieving confidence and trust in any professional relationship. As Senior Investment Manager at Legacy Trust I am proud to say that since our inception over ten years ago, we have always held ourselves to the highest ethical standards when providing investment services to our clients, and we are proud to call ourselves fiduciaries that act in our clients’ best interests.
I encourage you to read and share the Statement of Investor Rights (a link is provided below). It is our hope that by sharing this information we can help to raise the bar in terms of transparency, fairness, and personal integrity that investors should expect from their advisors, as our clients have always been able to count on from Legacy Trust.
http://investorsfirstmichigan.org/
http://cfainstitute.org/learning/future/pages/index.aspx?WPID=Strategic_Home&PageName=Homepage