A survey sponsored by TowersGroup has found that 43% of active, individual investors have less confidence in the stock market in the aftermath of Enron.

Only 23% of U.S. investors believe strongly in the stock market’s ability to reflect the fair value of stocks. Further, 88% of investors believe Enron’s executives, board, auditors or attorneys “intentionally” misled the public.

“The public’s trust is the cornerstone of our capital markets,” said Alan Towers, President of TowersGroup, reflecting on his company’s research. “Enron’s blow to investor faith is the Watergate of business. Trust will no longer be assumed. Companies will have to earn it with behavior, communications and leaders that inspire confidence.”

Asked who was at fault for Enron’s decline, respondents blamed former chairman Kenneth Lay most, followed by former CEO Jeffrey Skilling and the company’s board of directors. Surprisingly, a significant minority believe Enron is a catalyst for improvement. Only 33% said investigation of the company’s collapse will make investment information more reliable.

Asked what should be done to improve corporate integrity, 30% said to tighten financial reporting regulations, and 22% want to loosen the definition of criminal behavior so rogue corporate executives, directors and advisors can face criminal charges more easily.

The survey also asked investors to rank the honesty and integrity of investment advice providers, auditors and corporate management on a 1 to 5 scale, with 1 being the lowest.

36% gave lowest marks (1 or 2) to corporate management, and 33% gave them to directors. The only groups receiving as low or lower trust scores were insurance salespeople, who got the bottom rankings from 51% of respondents, and stock brokers, who tied management with 36% of investors handing them the lowest marks.

Groups with the highest honesty and integrity scores (4 or 5) were bankers, who received those scores from 39% of respondents; followed by mutual fund companies at 38%; and financial planners, who were ranked highest by 37%. Despite Enron, 34% of respondents gave accounting firms the highest trust rankings. 29% gave analysts the lowest ratings and 21% gave them the highest.

The survey was conducted in late February by Opinion Research Corporation, which queried 363 investors with 401(k) plans or other retirement plans who had also invested outside their plans in stocks or mutual funds during the past two years. The margin of error is +/- 5% at the 95% confidence level.