Plan Participants Looking For Someone They Can Trust

Nearly 45% of employees are more concerned about the security of their own 401k retirement plans since the Enron's 401k problems and are looking for advisors that they can trust, according a new survey from InsightExpress, LLC.

The InsightExpress survey reveals more than one in four investors (26%) said they trust their own judgment over all other sources for financial guidance. "I am more skeptical of investment guidance from major brokerage houses," stated one investor and survey participant.

After themselves, investors say they trust their financial advisor most (20%). At the bottom of the list are employers (1%), investment periodicals (4%), financial news television (4%), brokerage firms (5%), accountants (5%), friends/family members (9%) and banks (11%).

"The 401k plan is still a terrific employee benefit, but in today's environment, employers need to take note of this 'cry for help' from employees," said Lee Smith, COO of InsightExpress. "It's clear that employers need to find plan providers that employees can trust.''

InsightExpress also reports that merely 1% of employees trust employers most to provide sound financial guidance. However, most employees have high expectations for plan providers and financial advisors to do the right thing when it comes to making investors feel more secure. Specifically, employees want 401k plan providers to:

Attribute	Percent Agreeing
Be held responsible for their investment recommendations	67%
Quickly communicate potential issues and risks regarding investment opportunities	59%
Report suspicious practices of companies to the government	59%
Conduct due diligence on their recommendations	43%
Have no involvement in the investment opportunities they recommend	31%

"In this environment with investors feeling skittish, firms need to feel responsible for their investment recommendations. In fact, seven out of ten investors told us if firms did this it would help build back their trust. Only until more financial service companies behave as if their clients' money was their own, will investors begin to fully trust traditional sources of financial guidance again," summed up Lee Smith, COO of InsightExpress.

Despite rampant investor skepticism, the top three brands named most by investors as trustworthy are:

• Fidelity
• Merrill Lynch
• Vanguard

Background

The study was conducted in early March 2002 among 300 investors; the data has a tolerance of +/-5.6%.

Affiliated with NFO Worldwide, InsightExpress is a provider of fully automated market research. Visit InsightExpress on the Web at www.insightexpress.com.

Rick Meigs, Publisher, 401khelpcenter.com, LLC