Our job is to report the news without malice

I was making my way through a very crowded cocktail event a few weeks ago at the Lipper Fund Awards dinner here in New York.

I was making my way through a very crowded cocktail event a few weeks ago at the Lipper Fund Awards dinner here in New York. I had my eye on an ice-cold Heineken at the portable bar when an executive from a major fund company approached me.

He noticed my ID badge and asked what I do at InvestmentNews. I said that as the editor, I am involved in the overall content of the newspaper. “But do you write the news stories? What companies do you cover?” he asked.

I rephrased my original response and let him know that I do not write any news stories. The 14 reporters, who handle a wide range of beats, are the people on the front lines generating news stories each week.

He nodded, and his next statement froze me.

“Sometimes,” he said, “I see the same companies in the paper a lot. Do you actually go after them? I mean, that is pretty powerful to be able to write negative stuff about companies when you want to.”

At that moment, I forgot about the Heineken and focused on my response to this gentleman.

I have used this column to write about this very sensitive issue in the past, but it absolutely bears repeating. And what I write here is basically what I said to the fund firm executive.

First and foremost, the mission of InvestmentNews is to report accurately all the relevant news in the financial services industry.

For the record: Our staff has no agenda other than reporting the news.

While not all news is “bad,” if a financial services firm or a person in this industry does something wrong, we will report that story.

If a specific firm finds itself consistently in the news, and not in a positive way, the story will be covered because it’s our job continually to shed light on important and relevant stories.

This type of news coverage has upset some firms to the point that they think the paper is going out of its way to single them out. Some executives, like the gentleman at the Lipper Inc. event, think we have an agenda, and some have called me and said they feel that a particular reporter has a grudge against their firm.

My response to such statements is that InvestmentNews‘ reporters have a mission to provide readers with the most compelling and accurate news that affects the financial advisory business. It’s all about credibility.

Our reporters do not have an agenda against specific firms. If they did, they would no longer be working for this newspaper. What’s more, if I turned a blind eye to such behavior, I would no longer be working for InvestmentNews either.

I will go on record to say that as the editor, I can assure our readers that we value the time you invest in us and that the news in this paper will always be reported fairly and accurately, and that we have no axes to grind.

I will also go on record and be the first to admit that the process by which InvestmentNews works is not perfect. If we make a mistake, we will own up to it.

I have always encouraged readers to call me directly or to e-mail me if they have an issue with a story or our news coverage. The offer stands.