This week the panel is asked: What can the financial industry do to repair its image?
Dr Mark Konyn (chief executive RCM Asia Pacific)
At the onset of the financial crisis, when bankers became increasingly unpopular in society, I did not realise that fund managers, too, would be viewed with increasing derision. In my 25 years in the industry I always considered fund management a noble profession, allocating capital for the longer term benefit of savers and institutions, with the interests of those involved closely aligned with the clients.
As it turned out, I was wrong.
Close friends not in financial services confirmed that as far as they were concerned anyone involved in finance was tarred with the same brush. We were all guilty, overpaid and selfish. Local experts could not distinguish between different roles. The Hong Kong press referred to fund managers as being culpable in the minibonds debacle despite this being a product of investment banks. I was guilty by association.
Protests in Central capture the zeitgeist. Senior executives in financial services companies are now considering how they can improve the situation and help restore confidence in an industry likely to come under increasing scrutiny and should not neglect the next generation of graduates.
Christine Loh (chief executive of Civic Exchange)