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AUG 3, 2015 @ 01:25 PM 120,753 VIEWS
America's 50 MostTrustworthyFinancial Companies
Earlier this year, Forbes released the2015 list of The 100 Most TrustworthyCompanies In America, culled fromdata provided by MSCI ESG Research.The list included publiclytradedNorth American companies of all sizesand industries, with the exception of
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finance companies, specifically banksand insurance companies.
In recent years, measures taken in thewake of the financial crisis led a highnumber of financial institutions torank among the most trustworthycompanies in America, according tothe criteria used to build the list. Thedominance of this particular industry,coupled with the unique regulatoryenvironment in which it functions ledto the creation of a separate list of theMost Trustworthy FinancialCompanies.
To develop this list for Forbes, MSCI ESG Research reviews the
accounting and governance behaviorsof more than 700 publiclytradedNorth American companies withmarket caps of $250 million orgreater, for the year ending March2015. In assessing each company,factors including highrisk events,revenue and expense recognitionmethods, SEC actions, and bankruptcyrisk are all considered as indicators ofa company’s credibility.
These factors are used to develop“Aggressive Accounting andGovernance Risk” (AGR) numbers, thefinal composite by whichorganizations are scored. Companiesappear on the list divided intocategories by market cap size, alongwith their current AGR and averageAGR over the past four quarters.
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It is important to note that companiesthat do not make the list are notdeemed untrustworthy by default.Those that appear here are simply the50 with the highest score for the pastfour fiscal quarters.
In fact, Ric Marshall, executivedirector of MSCI ESG Research notesthat “beyond the 50 there are a lot ofcompanies that do meet similarstandards. By and large there havebeen a lot of positive changes in thisindustry as a whole,” particularly, hesaid, among insurance companies,REITs, and smaller banks.
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The MostTrustworthyLarge CapCompaniesIn AmericaLaunch Gallery26 images
In first place among large capcompanies is insurance andreinsurance provider PartnerRe Ltd.,with an average AGR of 97 out of apossible 100 over the past fourquarters. Insurance companies alsotop the mid and small caprankings. Erie Indemnity Company, with an average AGR of 96over the past four quarters, comes infirst among mid caps while State AutoFinancial Corporation leads small capswith an AGR of 98.
Marshall notes the “dearth” of banksmaking the grade among large capcompanies–just one, PNC FinancialServices , Inc., makes the list.
“The AGR results for those large capbanks are consistently poor,” saidMarshall. “It’s a real concern thatwe’re not seeing a positive impactfrom the regulations that have beenpassed on the largest banks.”
“The phrase that comes to mind is not
ERIE +0.00%
PNC -1.15%
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‘too big to fail,’ it’s ‘too big tomanage,’” he said, noting that thesheer size of major banks, coupledwith the lack of active shareholderengagement means that board actionsoften reflect the interests ofmanagement as much or more so thanthose of shareholders.
Still, Marshall notes improvements inrecent years in some of the verysituations on which AGR is focused,citing greater board diversity,decreased emphasis on combinedCEO/Chairman roles, and increasedboard communication withshareholders.
“The intent of the AGR ratings is tohighlight concerns regarding theintegrity of the financial reporting,”said Marshall, “it’s not to say ‘there’sthis special problem at the company’or to judge the results themselves ontheir financial metrics. The companiesthat make the cut are ones wherethere’s a very high level of integrity inthe financial reporting, whether theresults are good or bad. These pass avery rigorous test.”
America’s 50 Most TrustworthyFinancial Companies
CompanyName Ticker MarketCap
Industry AGRQ12015
Partnerre Ltd PRE Large Insurance 96
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UDR, Inc. UDR Large
REIT –
Residential
/
Commercial
96
Cincinnati Financial
CorporationCINF Large Insurance 94
Lazard Ltd LAZ LargeInvestment
Services81
Axis Capital Holdings
LimitedAXS Large Insurance 91
T. Rowe Price Group
IncTROW Large
Investment
Services84
PNC Financial
Services Group IncPNC Large Banks 74
Power Financial Corp PWF Large Insurance 69
Invesco Ltd. IVZ LargeInvestment
Services75
Brixmor Property
Group IncBRX Large
REIT –
Residential
/
Commercial
83
Erie Indemnity
CompanyERIE Mid Insurance 94
American Assets
Trust, IncAAT Mid
REIT –
Residential
/
Commercial
94
Primerica, Inc. PRI Mid Insurance 99
Aspen Insurance
Holdings LimitedAHL Mid Insurance 99
ARMOUR Residential
REIT, Inc.ARR Mid
REIT –
Residential
/
Commercial
99
Government
Properties Income
Trust
GOV Mid
REIT –
Residential
/
Commercial
88
CVB Financial Corp. CVBF Mid Banks 96
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Allied World
Assurance Co
Holdings, AG.AWH Mid Insurance 92
CoreSite Realty Corp COR Mid
REIT –
Residential
/
Commercial
88
Synovus Financial
Corp.SNV Mid Banks 90
Mercury General
CorporationMCY Mid Insurance 88
American Campus
Communities, Inc.ACC Mid
REIT –
Residential
/
Commercial
86
Chemical Financial
CorporationCHFC Mid Banks 82
WisdomTree
Investments, Inc.WETF Mid
Investment
Services82
Commerce
Bancshares, Inc.CBSH Mid Banks 86
National Penn
BancsharesNPBC Mid Banks 83
Boston Private
Financial Hldg IncBPFH Mid Banks 76
Evercore Partners
Inc.EVR Mid
Investment
Services81
Hanover Insurance
Group IncTHG Mid Insurance 83
First Bancorp FBP Mid Banks 86
Symetra Financial
CorporationSYA Mid Insurance 94
State Auto Financial
CorpSTFC Small Insurance 99
Community Trust
Bancorp, Inc.CTBI Small Banks 99
Sandy Spring
Bancorp Inc.SASR Small Banks 96
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Triple-S
Management Corp. GTS Small Insurance 83
Northern Property
REITNPR.UN Small
REIT –
Residential
/
Commercial
99
Cedar Realty Trust
IncCDR Small
REIT –
Residential
/
Commercial
89
United Fire Group,
Inc.UFCS Small Insurance 88
Federated National
Holding CoFNHC Small Insurance 92
Peapack-Gladstone
Financial CorpPGC Small Banks 91
EMC Insurance
Group Inc.EMCI Small Insurance 83
Great Southern
Bancorp, Inc.GSBC Small Banks 84
Safety Insurance
Group, Inc.SAFT Small Insurance 82
Arrow Financial
CorporationAROW Small Banks 80
OceanFirst Financial
Corp.OCFC Small Banks 86
National Interstate
CorporationNATL Small Insurance 86
Washington Trust
BancorpWASH Small Banks 84
Oppenheimer
Holdings Inc. (USA)OPY Small
Investment
Services69
Piper Jaffray
CompaniesPJC Small
Investment
Services91
Independent Bank
Corporation(MI)IBCP Small Banks 85
Small_Cap: $250M to $1B Mid_Cap: $1B to $5B Large Cap:$5B and up
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