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Diane Mix Birnberg By: Mark Melin, Editor, Opalesque Futures Intelligence

The fastest growing segment of the financial services industry was the one hardest hit by MF Globals suspicious demise and overt fraud at Peregrine Financial Group (PFG).

The managed futures industry, which had grown from $14 billion under management in 1991 to over $329 billion to end 2012, making it a shining star of the new economy. Offering the unique ability to zig when other investments zagged, the lack of correlation and performance during crisis were key points of attraction. This attraction came to a screeching halt with the MF Global and PFG criminal incidents. Not only were investors getting acquainted with the asset class shocked to learn their accounts were looted of assets, but more troubling criminal behavior appeared the cause - casting a shadow over all participants.

"There is a severe loss of trust, a loss of confidence. There is incredible anger and frustration. Things need to change," said Diane Mix Birnberg, president of Horizon Cash Management. Her firm just released a study, The Aftermath of MF Global and Peregrine Financial Group Meltdowns: A Crisis of Trust, showing that a whopping 91% of respondents believed there was a breakdown in audit procedures.

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