South Korean investors have lost their faith in financial firms and their products, amid the latest series of investment fiascos here, a survey showed Friday.

According to a poll conducted by the Korea Financial Investors Protection Foundation on 1,000 respondents aged from 25 to 69, 10 out of the 12 questions scored below 50 out of 100 points.

Scoring the lowest were the financial firms’ duty to inform investors of all possible investment risks beforehand and their liability for advertisement and marketing -- scoring 43.2 points and 39.9 points, respectively.

The respondents were also skeptical of the follow-up management after the purchase of financial products and their dispute resolution system.

In addition, they expressed their disapproval of the local financial authorities, citing the lack of consumer protective measures.

The KFIPF pointed out that the distrust of private investors was mainly due to the recent controversies over derivative-linked securities and derivative-linked fund products.

“The controversies triggered the current distrust of the entire industry, especially when it comes to investment recommendations and investor protection,” the foundation said in a statement.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)