The inimitable Hugh Hendry talking about his own industry, I find him to be a really straight talker who doesn’t mince his words. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Hugh Hendry is a captivating commentator who makes sense on many levels, delighted to see the BBC giving him air time.
Survey shows Brokers are the most trusted advisers
Research carried out by Nottingham Business School has shown that Brokers are the most trustworthy group of financial advisers.
The post below is taken from Mortgage Strategy which published the findings:
Brokers and advisers have come out on top in a consumer survey on trust within the financial services industry. Nottingham University Business school has put together the latest Trust Index on behalf of the Financial Services Research Forum which measures how trusting consumers are of the industry.
It found that brokers and advisers received the highest rating on trust and trustworthiness at 81.67.
Brokers and advisers have consistently been ranked the most trusted among financial services firms though have experienced a marginal decline this year. Findings in the latest study, which has been running since 2005, rank independent brokers higher than tied ones.
Banks, life insurance companies and credit card companies received the lowest ratings, at 73.96, 72.69 and 71.55 respectively.Overall the sector earned a trust rating of 75.02, and was deemed more trustworthy than institutions such as the National …
A tale of two bankruptcies
This is an interesting video by Fault Lines called ‘A tale of two bankruptcies’ and it looks at how, in the face of financial pressure a bank is treated versus how the regular US family is treated. This is not comparing like for like but it does point out some of the reasons for widespread anger in the US about the way that tax dollars are being spent.
Market based solutions to the financial crisis
If you want to nationalise a bank then you are putting it into the hands of the state, therefore the taxpayer, so how can you be fair to the people of a country when you nationalise a bank while also giving the shareholders and bondholders some opportunity at redeeming at least a portion of their money, and most importantly, how do you do this with a market based solution? Is there a market based solution?
Currently the answer has been to take the good, the bad, and the ugly onto the national balance sheet. Is this really what the taxpayer wants? Instead would it be better if they only took the good assets – thus protecting the tax payer, and left all of the toxic debt to the bond and shareholders and let them see what they can get out of the remaining assets?
They may not be getting protected (shareholders/preference shareholders/bond holders) but when was it a taxpayers responsibility to protect investors of any firm? It certainly is not in …
No Bailouts, no free lunches
If you were to describe the world of finance or investment as a ‘jungle’ then it would be a fair comparison to say that the first rule of the jungle, the core principle of it, and that which must remain as a central tenet is this: Investors who take a risk should always lose if that risk doesn’t pay off, equally they should always reap the reward if it does.
Seems simple right? Wrong, we are seeing the build up for a bail out in the press on a near constant basis, the majority of which is pointing towards the construction sector or the financial sector. This is all totally wrong, and it goes against any right thinking concept of capitalism or free markets.
Banks in particular don’t like regulation and press constantly for free market principles, so they of all …