Fitz Partners' Gillibert: Rebuilding trust

Fee transparency 'not enough'

Since the last financial crisis, the asset management industry has been trying to rebuild its public image, writes Hugues Gillibert, chief executive of Fitz Partners.

Asset managers might not expect to be loved but should try to earn people's trust by demonstrating that they are acting positively in investors' interests. While fee transparency has improved over the past few years, the multiplicity of disclosures, the confusion in measures and the lack of consistency in the newly-quoted transaction fees have not exactly charmed fund selectors. A surer way to regain public trust is in the strengthening of fund governance through the appointment of truly independent and answerable directors and the meaningful disclosure of the boards' considerations i...