I was on a flight to Chicago for an editing conference when I wrote this editorial. As I worked, it dawned on me, as it often does when I fly, that passengers place their lives in the hands of the pilots each time we get on a plane; we trust them to be competent professionals who place passenger safety above all other concerns.

In our day-to-day lives we, again, put our trust in many other people—police officers, medical professionals, public transport operators—to help us navigate through society. While many of these people and services exist to keep us physically safe and sound, those who can protect our financial lives need our trust as well.

Regardless of whether or not we believe money ensures (or at least contributes to) happiness, investor trust in the financial services industry is vital to its success. We don’t simply hope our financial advisors and trustees protect our money; we rightly presume they will.

And, while the industry continues to make headway in building that level of public trust, it’s clear that a credibility gap still remains. According to CFA Institute’s latest investor trust study, less than half (44 per cent) of retail investors trust financial services. There’s a lot more evidence to support that finding, too, which Vanja Perić uncovers in this issue of The Analyst.

While the ethical management of people’s finances remains at the heart of the industry, an increasing global perspective is also gaining prominence, bringing awareness to issues around environmental impact and human rights. To that end, some financial professionals are taking environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) into consideration. In this issue, Victoria Barclay looks at the various standards that are used to measure ESG in Sustainability Specs.

By any measure, a trust factor of 44 per cent is not encouraging. But if financial analysts and advisors focus more on how they interact with investors and how funds are being used—and less on maximizing returns and management fees—that figure may move in the right direction.