Top Investor Trends to Watch Now
According to recent studies, the country's wealthier investors are more optimistic than ever before.
Despite recent high-profile data breaches, turmoil in the Eurozone and tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine, investor confidence is up, with 76% of respondents saying they are optimistic in a recent Morgan Stanley Wealth Management study. This is up from 66% in 2013. The poll surveyed about 1,000 investors with at least $100,000 in investable assets. One third of those had assets exceeding $1 million.
A study by Cogent Wealth Reports released late last year found that more than 80% of potential clients with less than $1 million in investable assets were also upbeat about the current investing environment. A study by Phoenix Marketing International found similar results: 65% of investors with more than $100,000 and 71% with more than $1 million in investable assets were optimistic about the country's economic outlook over the next three months.
Click through to see these and other client trends and to get a better grasp on what's on your clients' minds as they think about their investments for this year.
Or click here for a single-page version. Andrew Shilling
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Who's Getting Advice?
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Ultrawealthy Want an Active Role in Their Portfolios
"Not only does ownership of individual securities -- stocks, bonds and ETFs -- increase with affluence, these investors really want to play an active role in their investments," said Sonia Sharigian, senior product manager with Cogent. "For product providers, this underscores the need to appeal directly to these wealthy investors and work alongside advisors on which product offerings and strategies will resonate most for these clients."
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Top Concerns
Among other worries, 81% of clients are concerned about the potential effects of terrorist attack on the U.S. and 80% cited the government's budget deficit as another potential issue, the study found.
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Favorite Investments
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Preferred Sectors
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Investing In Energy
Only 21% in the study said coal would be a good investment this year.
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Portfolio Insights
According to Phoenix Marketing International study, 33% of clients with more than $100,000 investable assets and 45% of those with more than $1 million said they were likely to make net increases to their portfolio over the next three months.
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Looking Ahead
"They are most bullish on the U.S. economy, which certainly has improved since the time this polling was done," said Jim Wiggins, the head of corporate communications for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. "The U.S. economy continues to be the bright spot in the globe, and that's not a loss on investors."
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