MIAMI Aside from microscopic pie charts on diversification in shareholder hand-outs, the fund industry has failed to properly educate investors about the downsides of risk during the great bull run of the 1990s, according to Donald A. McMullen, Jr., senior executive vice president of Wachovia Corp. McMullen made his remarks at his keynote speech this morning here at the National Investment Company Services Association's 21st Annual Operations Conference.
Speaking candidly, McMullen was confident enough to open his presentation with a "Saturday Night Live" video clip showing Alec Baldwin spoofing the state of the markets by jocularly jumping out of a window as he tells a client on the other end of his cell phone that the "Reliable Funds" are absolutely a great investment.Fear and anger have overcome most investors, McMullen said, but instead of shirking from these unpleasant responses, fund firms must actively work, investor by investor, to reinstill confidence.
"We are built on a bedrock of strong values, and must convey that to investors," McMullen said. "We are going through tough times, but we are going to lead our way out of this and go to the next level."
