Choosing the industry’s most influential players

This is the third year Money Management has compiled a list of the financial services industry’s Top 10 Most Influential People, yet the task has not become any easier and continues to raise much debate.

Influence, of course, can be both positive and negative, local or international — which explains why Money Management received such interesting nominations, such as “whoever is behind the Colonial platform”, Alan Greenspan and two of last year’s nominees, Saddam Hussein and George Bush.

But no matter how the word ‘influence’ is interpreted, nor which area of the industry they originate from, the number of those worthy of consideration is vast to say the least. And this year our voters gave our deciding panellists plenty to work with.

Those nominated ranged from people who create influence without being publicly recognised — the ‘behind the scenes’ types whose work is known, but whose names are not — as well as those whose influence is felt from across the globe. To decide on the top 10 we used methodology similar to that employed in previous years.

Money Management canvassed a wide range of individuals across the industry, spanning the financial planning, funds management and distribution arenas, as well as industry associations, research houses, industry consultants and commentators. They were asked to name any number of people they considered had made an impact on the financial services industry this year, for specific and identifiable reasons.

To make the final grade, nominees had to be personally influential, not merely influential because they hold a certain position.

Nominees were then ranked statistically, with all those below a certain ranking removed. The remaining nominees became the basis for a round-table discussion with a panel of industry players.

Money Managementinvited eight well-known industry figures to debate the shortlist and vote for the Top 10 Most Influential by secret ballot.

Money Managementwould like to thank all those in the industry who were involved with the polling for providing us with a large field of worthy contenders, and the panel for bringing us the final list.