How Much Trust Have
You In Corporate India?

Final Results
Corporate groups % of votes
Tata Group 31.83
HDFC Group 12.47
L&T 7.83
Aditya Birla Group 6.44
Infosys 5.05
Mahindra Group 4.28
None of the above 4.14
Sundaram/TVS Group 3.83
Mukesh Ambani Group 3.58
Godrej 3.49
Anil Ambani Group 2.72
ICICI Bank 2.69
Rahul Bajaj Group 2.58
DLF 2.50
Vedanta Group 2.43
Bharti Airtel 2.19
Essar Group 1.94
Total 100.00
 

Dear Reader,

Let us admit the simple fact...

The corporate scene for the last two years has been a complete mess!

Corruption, misguidance and trickery...all around.

Whether it is manipulating taxes, cooking books or abetting unbridled corrupted schemes...

...the list just does not seem to end.

Starting from the Satyam scandal in 2009 to the 2G scam in 2010 to the Coalgate saga in 2012 to the more recent Natural Gas scandal (not to mention the currently popular Cobrapost Expose) this year, corporate ethics just seem to have disappeared in the last few years.

And sadly, this was the case TEN years back as well.

Remember the clever 1990 Airbus scandal, 1992 Securities scam or much infamous 2001 Stock Market scam?

The list just does not end.

And who suffers because of these?

The average investors.

You and us.

Billions of rupees in investor capital have been tricked, robbed and looted in the process.

And we couldn't stop or retrieve it.

Whether it is you, your dear friend or your close relative, someone has been severely played up and has lost his hard-earned income in one way or the other.

...BUT NO MORE!

We, at Equitymaster, know that clever conman companies exploit the lack of knowledge among investors.

So, we figured the best way to fight this unbridled skullduggery is to promote investor awareness.

The first step toward that is unification of the investor community. You must know which companies or groups your fellow investors admire, trust or advise.

Why? Once there is transparency and unity of opinions among investors, the market 'gaming' and price manipulation by the fraudulent companies will be bound to stop.

And thus is the theory behind the India's Most Trustworthy Corporate Group Polls, conducted by Equitymaster every year.

And by the way, there is a new on-demand addition to the poll this year, unlike the previous years.

We have been considerate of the unstable corporate governance conditions of India at the moment, and included an extra option - "None of the above" - in the poll.

So, if you think none of the companies or corporate groups are worthy of trust and faith, you can always select that option.

Voice Your Precious Opinions in the India's Most Trustworthy Corporate Group Poll 2013!

We, so do the other investors, look forward to what you have to say.

You have a responsibility in the community as an investor.

Do your part to fight back the unchecked surge in corporate pollution and investor victimization, by registering your vote right now.

Warm Regards,

Team Equitymaster

2013 Indian Corporate Trust Poll Results

Equitymaster puts corporate ethics and governance as one of the most significant parameters of a top-notch management, which play a crucial role in determining the investment-worthiness of a company.

And in light of that, the 2013 Corporate Trust Poll has been recently concluded, in order to find out the most trustworthy corporate group in India.

With the overwhelming response of 14,107 participants casting their votes in the poll, the result is as follows:

Out of the 16 corporate groups, Tata Group still came out first with over 31%, for the fourth time in a row.

Apparently, Cyrus Mistry retained the trust built by Ratan Tata. However, the voters' percentage has steadily gone down from 61.21% in 2011 and 55.77% in 2012.

HDFC garnered a distant second place yet again, with 12.47% (much higher than 10.41% in the previous year).

With around 8% votes, Larsen & Toubro went up to the third position this year from the fourth position in the last two years.

Aditya Birla Group (6.44%), Infosys (5.05%) and Mahindra Group (4.28%) took the fourth, fifth and sixth position respectively.

Even the re-instatement of Mr. Narayana Murthy could not retrieve the lost investor confidence for Infosys.

Strangely, 'None of the above' option, introduced for the first time this year, came in at the seventh position with 4.14% votes.

This might serve as a hint at how fast the Indian investors are losing their trust in these business conglomerates.

Sundaram/TVS Group has been steadily declining from the fifth position in 2011 to sixth position in 2012 to eighth position this year, with 3.83% votes.

Mukesh Ambani Group (9th), with 3.58% votes, ranked one step above the Anil Ambani Group (11th) that got 2.72% of the total votes cast.

However, it is to be noted that the Anil Ambani Group has shown remarkable comeback this year after finishing second last with 0.90% votes last year.

Godrej (3.49%), DLF (2.50%) and Vedanta Group (2.43%) were the new additions to the list this year and surprisingly, they outperformed the regulars like Bharti Airtel (2.19%) and Essar Group (1.94%).

While Bharti Airtel may have somewhat lost its charm with the investors this year, Essar Group has turned out to be the least reliable corporate house as per the last two annual surveys.

That pretty much sums up this year's results.

We heartily thank each and every one of the Equitymaster readers who showed their interest and participated in the poll.

Do the results match your expectations?

What was your choice? Why?

Let us know your precious views and comments, in the comments box below.