(mis)conduct, money & reputation by Lansons Team Farner, Katten

Woodford’s appeal against a multimillion-pound FCA fine and ban is under the spotlight in this episode, with David Masters and Neil Robson asking what the tribunal could uncover - and whether his reputation can ever recover. 

Insider trading, money laundering, and reputational risk in asset management take centre stage in this episode, featuring the recent conviction of Redinel and Oerta Korfuzi. 

In this episode, David Masters and Neil Robson unpack the high-stakes appeal by Jes Staley against his lifetime ban from the FCA, and the tangled web of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein at the heart of this case. 

Reputation in financial services is complex, shaped by audience perception and regulatory scrutiny. In this episode, Neil Robson and David Masters dive into the scandals surrounding Crispin Odey and Neil Woodford, exploring how they have not only damaged their personal standings but also raised fundamental questions about trust in the system. 

As social media and generational shifts reshape the world of investment and financial advice, asset managers are facing a new and growing challenge: finfluencers. These social media personalities represent both opportunity and risk. Active on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, they can make finance more accessible, but also present reputational challenges when they promote financial products without following regulations. In this episode, David Masters and Neil Robson together with Emily Allen in the US, explore the impact of finfluencers on the asset management sector, focusing on the UK and US regulatory risks and misconduct issues they can trigger.

Cybersecurity is an issue which continues to dominate headlines, concern investors and have substantial and very real implications for asset and wealth managers. In the data rich world of investment management, understanding the implications of cyber breaches has never been more critical.

From trawling The Eighth Day shop on Manchester’s Oxford Road in a long black cloak and dress to chairing the UK’s largest in-house pension asset manager at USS via one of the first graduate trainee schemes for stockbrokers, Sarah Bates has a long, storied and hugely successful career in the City and beyond. She has been a fund manager, a CEO, and has chaired some of the UK’s biggest pension funds.

Building a business with a diversified employee base is no longer a nice to have, its necessary, both in terms of talent retention but client retention as well. The regulator is also insisting that financial services firms put in place evidence-based diversity and inclusion strategies that take into account the individual firm's progress on these efforts.

An increasingly diverse regulatory landscape presents substantial reputational challenges for investment managers.

ESG, and specifically sustainability, is an increasingly controversial topic for investment managers, with diverging regulation in Europe, the US and UK, and rising numbers of reputational hazards to navigate.  Many fund companies are removing phrases like “ESG” and “sustainable” from product names, whilst downgrading the obligations that these funds have to the principles of ESG.  At the same time, it seems that many investment businesses have been overstating their sustainability credentials, and at least two firms have been fined over $25 million in recent years for making false claims. 

Back in early June, it looked like we were set for a balmy summer, but then the storm broke. A Financial Times and Tortoise Media investigative feature in the FT Weekend magazine detailing a series of allegations of sexual misconduct by the eponymous hedge fund founder at Odey Asset Management set off a chain of events that will have far-reaching consequences for financial services businesses.