To have been a participant in the financial services industry over the past 6 years has been, as the Chinese would say, to have lived through interesting times. The industry went from unwavering confidence in 2007 to being unequivocally reviled by 2009. Today, the industry, severely chastened, appears to be doing its level best to keep itself out of the spotlight.

Yet what exactly does the average person think of the financial services industry? Naturally, it is hard to generalise about an industry as large and diverse as financial services. Commercial banking, investment banking, asset management and insurance all have different risks and economic characteristics. Nevertheless, financial services broadly remained the least trusted industry globally, with just 46% of the public trusting the industry versus 73% for the technology sector.