This month’s quick poll of trustees received much criticism of banks’ lack of controls and regulators’ lack of action.
Credit rating agencies’ failure to reflect risk in their ratings were also cited, as well as company boards, governments, investment analysts and shareholders.
Some of the sharpest criticism was made by trustees of themselves for believing what they were told.
“We let it happen,” said one trustee. “The real owners of capital must take their responsibilities of ownership more seriously. Governments and regulators should enable us to do this.”
Another blamed trustees for trying to measure risk with “rear-view mirrors”, for not being sufficiently informed about the esoteric products that may have been bought on their behalf, for accepting 2-and-20 fees, and for not pointing out sufficiently, vociferously, the potential unintended consequences of regulatory actions.
Elsewhere, the poll revealed that 43% of schemes had made special announcements to members about the crisis and that 42% were making strategic investment moves to take advantage of cheap assets.
DR
