This report, sponsored by CFA Institute, is based on an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey of senior managers carried out September 2013. The 382 respondents are split regionally: Europe (42%), Asia-Pacific (34%), North America (20%).

All respondents are from the financial services industry; one-half are C-suite executives, and the rest are senior executives and managers. The EIU also surveyed 50 executives from firms supporting the financial services industry across a number of areas including technology, marketing and business processes.

The report shows that although executives overwhelmingly recognize the importance of ethical behavior in the industry, there is still a significant gap between that belief and the industry’s practices. The study also shows that while building a culture based on integrity and financial knowledge across firms helps mitigates risk and makes for a more resilient business, a silo culture remains pervasive and integrated functional and management approaches to risk-proof organizations remains weak.

The study concludes that within the industry there is strong evidence that sincere attempts are being made to change cultures. It still has a long way to go to create a finance industry where professional and organizational values truly align with those that serve client, shareholder and societal needs.

Key Findings

Ethics

• 91% of financial executives support the notion that aspiring to a globally recognized set of ethical standards would make the financial services industry more resilient
• 53% of financial services executives say strictly adhering to ethical standards inhibits career progression at their firm

Financial Knowledge

• 60% of financial executives highlight gaps in employees’ knowledge as a significant risk for their firm
• 59% of financial executives agree improving knowledge of the industry as a whole would help make their firm more resilient