Poll suggests that brokers consider Dems scarier than terrorism, recession. What worries financial advisors most isn't the credit-market crisis, a recession or gyrating securities markets. Rather, says a study by third-party investment platform provider Brinker Capital, it's the prospect of a Democrat in the White House.

"With the close of 2007, advisors anticipate 2008 to be an eventful year, given the presidential elections and the government's efforts to mitigate economic uncertainty," says Brinker's president John Coyne. "Despite recent market volatility and executive turnover at some of the country's largest financial institutions, our confidence index continues to indicate a positive economic outlook held by advisors. While predictions are largely bullish, advisors may alter their sentiment based on the results of the 2008 White House race."

Brinker made this timely discovery in its fourth-quarter 2007 Brinker Barometer, which gauges financial-advisor confidence about the economy, retirement savings, investing and market performance. Brinker polled 236 advisors -- mainly brokers affiliated with insurance companies or independent broker-dealers.

Up at night

Nearly a quarter of them -- 22% -- said that a Democratic president was their greatest fear. Only 15% cited global unrest, and the same proportion chose sluggish U.S. economic growth as points of worry; 13% said a terrorist attack was their greatest fear and another 13% worried about outright recession. Single-digit selections included "Value of the Dollar" (6%), "Iraq War" (5%), "Republican in White House" (3%), "Inflation" (3%).

A mere 4% said that they had no major worries at all.

Eight out of 10 advisors said that their biggest tax worries under a Democratic presidency would be an increase in the capital-gains tax, ordinary income tax, or an elimination of preferential treatment of dividends.

Still, advisors didn't seem to be thrilled with the status quo. U.S. president George Bush got an F grade from about a third of them and a C from 53%. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke received a C from 57%. Congress got an F from 70% of the advisors polled.

Still, the respondents seemed bullish on the economy. Three quarters said that they are either "very" or "somewhat" confident on the economic outlook. Only 17% professed to have "little" or "no" confidence in the economy. Around 70% of respondents said they were "very" or "somewhat" confident in financial markets; 16% said they had "little" or "no" confidence in market performance.

Berwyn, Pa.-based Brinker had more than $9.4 billion in assets under management on 16 December 2007. -FWR

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