What is the Financial Trust Index?
The Booth Chicago/Kellogg School Financial Trust Index is a quarterly measure of Americans’ confidence in the private institutions in which they can invest their money.

What, specifically, does the Financial Trust Index measure?
The Financial Trust Index measures investors’ trust in the stock market, banks, mutual funds and large corporations. In different quarters, this information is supplemented with data on additional topics (e.g. real estate investment, opinion about recent events).

Who spearheads the Financial Trust Index?
The Financial Trust Index was developed and is spearheaded by Paola Sapienza, professor of finance at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and Luigi Zingales, Robert C. McCormack Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

How do the authors define trust?
Trust is an expectation that a person (or institution) will perform actions that are beneficial or at least not detrimental to others.

While trust is fundamental to all trade and investment, it is particularly important in financial markets, where people part with their money in exchange for promises.

How is data collected for the Financial Trust Index?
On a quarterly basis, data is analyzed from more than 1,000 American households, randomly chosen and surveyed via phone by Social Science Research Solutions.

What entities sponsor the Financial Trust Index?
The initiative is sponsored jointly by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

How often will data be published?
The Index will measure public opinion every three months, providing snapshots and eventually a broader view of how trust shifts over time.