Edelman’s Financial Communications group presents the findings of its second annual Trust in U.S. Financial Services Survey. The questions were fielded in November 2010 to gauge the level of trust individual investors feel in relation to financial services companies, professionals and regulations.

1. THE LONG ROAD BACK
Trust in U.S. Financial Services
2011

2. Trust in U.S. Financial Services Methodology
Individual Investors
• Income: $50,000 or more. (An income of $50K+ represents the top 50% of all U.S.
Households according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, P60-
235 published August 2008)
• Investments: $10,000 or more invested in liquid assets and/or mutual funds, stocks
and bonds, and more than just a 401(k) or Roth/traditional IRA
• Telephone survey among 503 “Individual Investors”
• Survey dates: November 9-24, 2010
• Sampling error margin: ± 4.37% at the 95% level of confidence
Entry-Level Affluents
• Subgroup constitutes the top 18% of the Individual Investor population
• Income: $150,000 or more
• Investments: $100,000 or more
2

3. For Nearly Half of Individual Investors, Trust in
Financial Services Declines
Decreases in trust are due primarily to the perception that financial services companies have acted in
a greedy manner (57%) and that the industry itself has made the problems worse (18%).
Q. 11 Compared to last year, has your trust in the financial services industry…?
Q. 12 (Reduced sample, Q11. „Decreased‟) What is the most important reason your trust in the financial services industry has
decreased?
3

4. Only Half of Individual Investors Trust Financial
Institutions in General, Community/Regional Banks
and Mutual Fund Companies Fare Best
Trust in Financial Institutions (Top 4 Box, 6-9)
Community or Regional Banks 67%
Mutual Fund Companies 55%
Financial Institutions in General 49%
Large, National Banks 45%
Brokerage Firms 43%
Life Insurance Companies 42%
Property/Casualty Insurance Companies 37%
Investment Banks 35%
Private Equity Firms 32%
Q. 58-66 Now I would like to focus on your trust in different financial institutions. Please tell me how much you TRUST businesses in each of the following financial
institutions to do what is right. Please use a 9-point scale where one means that you “DO NOT TRUST THEM AT ALL” and nine means that you “TRUST THEM A
GREAT DEAL” (Trust = 6-9)
4

5. Entry-Level Affluents are More Trusting of Large,
National Banks and Brokerage Firms
Trust in Financial Institutions (Top 4 Box, 6-9)
67%
Community or Regional Banks
62%
55%
Mutual Fund Companies
59%
49%
Financial Institutions in General
51%
45%
Large, National Banks
52% 7%
43%
Brokerage Firms
49% 6%
42%
Life Insurance Companies
43%
Property/Casualty Insurance 37%
Companies 31%
35%
Investment Banks Individual Investors
39%
32%
Entry-Level Affluents
Private Equity Firms
33%
Q. 58-66 Now I would like to focus on your trust in different financial institutions. Please tell me how much you TRUST businesses in each of the following financial
institutions to do what is right. Please use a 9-point scale where one means that you “DO NOT TRUST THEM AT ALL” and nine means that you “TRUST THEM A
GREAT DEAL” (Trust = 6-9)
5

6. Half of Individual Investors Need Help Managing
Their Money, But Six in 10 are Uncertain of the
Value of Large Financial Services Firms
50% need
expert/professional help
to manage money
60% uncertain about value
of large firms
Q. 10 I believe that my family and I need expert and professional help to manage our money more effectively. Assuming I can find a firm that I trust and respect, I believe it would be
helpful to me to have expert and professional money management help and expertise
Q. 9 The recession has left me less certain about the value that large financial services firms offer my family and me in managing our money
6

7. Importance vs.
Performance
7

8. Individual Investors Value Honest Communication
and Open and Transparent Business Practices
Importance of Factors to Overall REPUTATION (Top 2 Box, 8-9)
High Importance Honest communication 91%
Has open and transparent business practices 84%
Fair and competitive prices 75%
Consistent product delivery 75%
Available customer service 74%
Values loyal customers 69%
Website with easy financial transactions 62%
Top leadership 54%
Informative website 51%
Highly-regarded local advisors 49%
Frequent communication 49%
Mobile/Handheld connections 20%
Physical locations 19%
Social networking connections 5%
Q. 30-43 How important are each of the following factors to the overall reputation of a financial company? Please use a nine-point scale where one means that factor is
“not at all important” and nine means it is “extremely important” to overall reputation (Top 2 Box, 8-9)
8

9. Individual Investors Feel That Financial Services Firms
Fall Short on What is Important to Overall Reputation
Importance and Performance Ratings (Top 2 Box, 8-9)
100%
91%
90% 84%
80% 24%
75% 75%
Importance Performance
21% 74%
69%
70% 67%
63% 62%
59%
60% 56% 57% 56%
53% 54%
51%
49% 49%
50%
43%
40%
40% 36% 36%
30%
20%19% 19%19%
20%
10% 5% 5%
0%
Available customer service
Top leadership
Frequent communication
Honest communication
Values loyal customers
Highly-regarded local
Mobile/Handheld
Physical locations
Has open & transparent
Social networking
Consistent product delivery
Fair and competitive prices
Informative website
Website with easy financial
connections
business practices
connections
advisors
transactions
Q. 30- 43 “How important is this factor to overall reputation on a 9-point scale where one means “not at all important” and nine means “extremely important”? (Top Two Box, 8-9)
Q. 44- 57 “How well has the financial services industry performed on this factor to overall reputation on a 9-point scale where one means “not at all well” and nine means
“extremely well”? (Top Two Box, 8-9)
9

10. Brokers, Advisors, Agents and Bankers are Seen as
the Most Credible Sources of Financial Information
Credible Sources of Information
Q. 29 The most credible source for information from a financial services firm comes from…?
10

11. Six in 10 Individual Investors use National News
Sources Most Regularly
Sources of Financial Information
Q. 21 What sources of information do you use most regularly to get information about investments, investing, insurance or the financial markets?
11

12. More than Half of Individual Investors Share
Information at Least Monthly
Q. 27 How often do you share information or opinions with others about financial services companies you read or hear about?
Q. 28 How do you share that information about financial services companies and products? Indicate all that apply
12

13. Men Share Information About Financial Services
Companies More Frequently than Women
Frequency of Information Sharing
Q. 27 How often do you share information or opinions with others about financial services companies you read or hear about?
13

14. Regulation

15. Over Half of All Individual Investors Feel More
Regulation is Necessary
Beliefs about Regulation
Q. 67 Should financial institutions be regulated more or less than they are currently regulated or is the current amount of regulation sufficient?
15

16. Two Out of Three Believe there are Problems
Not Covered in Dodd-Frank and that Entities
Should Work Together to Address Problems
Are there problems beyond those Which entity do you think Percentage
should be MOST responsible
addressed in Dodd-Frank?
for addressing the problems
facing the financial services
industry?
Government regulatory
agencies such as the SEC or 21%
Federal Reserve
Don't know Yes Financial services companies 6%
15% 67%
Congress 3%
Decreased
18%, All of the above entities should 65%
work together
Other 3%
Don’t Know 2%
Q. 68 Do you believe there are problems in the financial services industry that need to be addressed beyond what was addressed in Dodd-Frank?
Q. 69 (Reduced sample, Q68 „Yes‟) Which entity do you think should be MOST responsible for addressing the problems facing the financial services industry?
16

17. Financial services firms are suffering from
an enormous trust deficit
Transparency and honest communications
drive corporate reputation
Insights
Your client-facing professionals are your
most credible brand ambassadors
More than half of Individual Investors share
information and opinions about financial
services companies at least monthly
17

18. Steps on the Road Back to Trust
• Evaluate your materials through the lens of
the customer
• Don’t try to do it alone
• Ensure that everyone, from CEO to CSRs,
reinforces your company’s values
• Use all the channels and trusted sources in
the communications mix
• Harness the power of search
• Social media plays an important role
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