Forget about supply-chain bottlenecks. Is trust in American financial institutions also in short supply, or has it withstood these trying times?
That’s the question MarketWatch will aim to answer as it teams up with Investor’s Business Daily to identify the banks, brokers, wealth managers, insurers, fund and investing companies, and credit-card operators that register highest in trustworthiness.
Working with sister publication IBD to find the 25 Most Trusted Financial Companies is a first for MarketWatch.
However, IBD’s most-trusted list made its debut in 2020 to help consumers decide where to turn for financial products and services, a mission that aligns with MarketWatch’s aim of offering tools and services to the masses that help to democratize access to and understanding of financial markets.
This year, we will be asking which companies rank highest on eight trust attributes — up from five in 2021 — that customers said they considered most important in an initial phase of this survey among thousands of consumers.
Those attributes:
- Quality of products and services
- Ethical business practices and values
- Commitment to protecting the privacy and security of personal data
- Company’s service/treatment of others
- Fair prices/fees for products and services
- Sensitivity to customer needs in the current economic and financial climate (inflation, stock market, etc.)
- Innovation of processes and offerings
- Treatment of employees
In 2021, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest ranked No. 24 overall on the list, but the fund company’s flagship Ark Innovation exchange-traded fund
ARKK,
is down by more than 50% in 2022, as speculative assets take it on the chin, amid a new regime of punchy inflation and rising interest rates.
This year’s survey comes as the S&P 500
SPX,
and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
rang up their worst first-half performances in more than 50 years and only recently red-hot crypto markets dramatically unraveled.
Michael Novogratz, the Galaxy Digital
GLXY,
BRPHF,
founder and former Goldman Sachs banker, said it isn’t just a bear market in the traditional sense of the word — but also a “bear market in trust,” in a recent interview, referring to what he believed to be the pervading sentiment among investors.
We’ll release the results, and details on this year’s methodology, on Aug. 29, so please take the survey here.
TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence is helping to conduct the survey.
