Time is rebuild trust

A powerful committee of UK business leaders is to warn companies and the fund management industry that they need to "rebuild trust" with investors if they are to stave off further intervention from the government.
The group, led by Sir Richard Sykes, former chairman of G1axoSmithKline, the pharmaceuticals company, is to unveil proposals for improving relations between investors and the professionals hired to make the best use of their money: fund managers, investment consultants, brokers and directors of quoted companies.
Sir Richard will warn of the need for radical change at a summit of business leaders in November, ahead of the committee's final report next year.
With this body representing companies and professionals from the City of London, this is a rare collective admission that they have lost the trust of millions of ordinary investors.
The Sykes inquiry "may be the last chance for the investment community to show that it can put its own house in order without further unwelcome intervention from government and regulators", said Mark Goyder, director of Tomorrow's Company, which commissioned the report.
The hard-hitting stance, which will be well received by ministers and financial consumer groups, is likely to trigger speculation over whom the committee will hold responsible for the erosion of trust.
When, appointed to head the committee, Sir Richard had said that big investors were so inactive that it was "pathetic" and "a sin". His comments drew an angry response from some fund managers.