Analysis: Owning up to key structural flaws.

Byline: Nat Mankelow

Asset managers have a massive mountain to climb if they are to repair the significant loss of confidence from customers who have seen their savings and investments "destroyed" in recent months, one of the industry's most influential figures has said.

Robert Parker, vice-chairman of Credit Suisse's Asset Management division (CSAM), slammed what he said was "an arrogant approach" of a number of asset managers who had assumed they had come through the financial crisis unscathed.

"I disagree with the 'business as usual' statements made in the industry and the naive assumption that we've come through the crisis very well. There has been a significant loss of investor confidence and customer confidence in asset management and I'm not surprised given the extent of the destruction of savings," he told an annual general meeting of the International Capital Markets Association (Icma) in Switzerland this month.

Mr Parker, who sits on Icma's asset management council, was staggered that even the most straightforward investments had found their way into highly complex and leveraged instruments during the run-up to the crisis.