Top 100 respected companies, ranked by investors; Apple is No. 1

Losing your company $2 billion apparently causes investors to respect you less, according to a recent survey conducted by Barron’s.

After an investment group within JPMorgan was found to have lost $2 billion in trading, the bank’s listing on Barron’s annual survey dropped to 49th this year from 14th last year. After the loss, JPMorgan’s chief executive apologized for the risky trading before a congressional committee.

Apple again took the top spot, even after its leadership changed when Steve Jobs died last fall. The company is now headed by Tim Cook.

Investors in the survey were asked to make four selections when rating companies -- “highly respect, respect, respect somewhat, or don’t respect.” Investors ranked companies based on management, business strategy, ethical business strategies and competitive edge, among other factors.

And it seemed some investors did not like unpopular political statements either, like Warren Buffett’s calls to tax the rich more.

Berkshire Hathaway dropped to 15th this year from No. 3. Since the survey began in 2006, Buffett’s company had consistently placed in the top 5.

The top 10 included McDonald’s, Amazon.com, Caterpillar andCoca-Cola.

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