U.S. Consumer Trust in Financial Investment Firms Drastically Low

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Jul 07 (MARKET WIRE) --
U.S. financial institutions have a lot of work to do to win back the
trust of the American investor with many now saying they no longer trust
banks enough to put customers' best interests ahead of their own
corporate goals. According to a new survey commissioned by Cake
Financial, an online investment management service that helps consumers
minimize the time and expense of managing their retirement and brokerage
accounts and conducted by Harris Interactive(R), only 21 percent of U.S.
adults who use financial investment firms are confident that they put
customers' best interest ahead of their own when it comes to managing
client investments. Moreover, barely 1 in 10 (12 percent) of those who
invest in mutual funds and/or retirement funds believe that the fees they
pay for mutual funds justify the return on their investments.

"With trillions of dollars being wiped out from 401K and retirement
accounts, consumers are now more than ever searching for personal
investing solutions that they can trust," said Steven Carpenter, Cake
Financial co-founder and CEO. "They want more transparency into the
process and are fed up with having to spend their hard-earned money to
pay the exorbitant hidden fees that many mutual fund and investment
managers charge."

Trust

There is a crisis of confidence with U.S. consumers when it comes to
personal investing. Only a small fraction of those who use financial
investment firms have the highest levels of confidence in their financial
institutions, with six percent saying they are extremely confident or very
confident that personal investment firms put investor interest ahead of
their own corporate interests when it comes to managing their client's
investment. Additionally, only 23 percent of those who invest in mutual
funds and/or retirement funds are extremely confident/very
confident/confident that financial investment firms can help them reach
their specific financial goals, while 26 percent are not at all confident.

Lack of trust is driving unprecedented interest by consumers to seek out
credible third-party investment resources for help. More than three out
of four who will/do invest in mutual funds or retirement funds (78
percent) say they are at least somewhat likely to seek advice about
future financial investments from a trusted source. This number grows as
household income increases: 85 percent of those with an annual net income
of $75,000 or more are at least somewhat likely to seek investment advice
from a trusted source.

Consumers who are most likely to be engaged in retirement investment
decisions are also the most distrustful of fees. Only eight percent of
those who invest in mutual funds and/or retirement funds in the 35 to 44
age group felt fees were justified. And only 10 percent of those aged 45
to 54 believe fees to be justified.

About Cake Financial

Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Cake Financial Corporation is an
online investing service that helps individual investors manage their
401K's, retirement and brokerage accounts. Cake offers a complete view
across an unlimited number of online accounts with clear performance
reporting, as well as personalized, objective insights not found anywhere
else. Cake Financial is backed by Alsop Louie Partners and KPG Ventures,
as well as a number of angel investors including Baseline Ventures and
Bay Partners. For more information visit http://www.cakefinancial.com.

Survey Methodology

Harris Interactive(R) fielded the study on behalf of Cake Financial
Corporation from June 22-24, 2009 via its QuickQuery(SM) online omnibus
service, interviewing a nationwide sample of 2,261 U.S. adults aged 18
years and older. Data were weighted using propensity score weighting to be
representative of the total U.S. adult population on the basis of region,
age within gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity, and
propensity to be online. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be
calculated; a full methodology is available.

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