ISO 9000 Quality Management Standards and Financial Investment Services

Quo vadis quality assurance in investment services? Many investors and their brokers wonder about the volatility and developments in the financial markets. Together with the inherent uncertainty with investing money in turbulent and ever-more changing markets, increasing competition between financial investment service firms propels a new drive for quality. Managing the quality of investment services is rapidly becoming a very demanding task required from investment brokers and their firms. In recent years, however, many organisations have referred to the ISO 9000 international standards that describe quality systems, to make their quality efforts visible to customers and the general public. In this article, the ISO 9000 standards are interpreted for use in both large and small firms that offer services related to personal investment in securities. Both the previous [ISO 9001, 1994] and new [ISO 9001, 2000] versions of the standard are examined. The investment service practitioner will understand the essential features of the ISO 9000 Standard, potential benefits after compliance, important elements of the ISO 9000 quality system, and the basic steps to implement the standards.