Top 10 Most Influential: Stephen van Eyk

ONE of our panellists mused that a degree of Stephen van Eyk’s influence stems from the amount of media exposure he receives — “he’s mentioned every week in every industry magazine”.

And to ensureMoney Managementis not the player to drop the ball, this week will be no exception.

There are, however, just a few other reasons why this is the third year Stephen van Eyk has been voted by the industry as one of the most influential people in financial services.

According to one nominator, the continued shift to platforms over the past year has “further strengthened Stephen’s influence in terms of recommendations and fund flow”.

Thevan Eyk Researchmanaging director’s influence has also been felt through the increase in popularity and establishment of modelled portfolios in research.

“He’s expanding research from just recommendations,” one panelist comments.

Van Eyk agrees that over the past year “research has really moved from where it started out — from straight ratings to ratings within model portfolios, in both managed fund research and direct stock research”.

Others praised van Eyk for the intelligent opinion he often voices at industry events and through the media.

“I did make a special effort over the year to get out there and tell people what I think, especially earlier this year when things were really bad,” van Eyk says.

“We made the effort to tell people to get into equities and out of fixed interest, and what planners should tell their clients — hopefully that made an impact.”