Millionaire Household Confidence Makes Biggest Leap Since May - Spectrem Group

Eliane Chavagnon

27 September 2012

Confidence among millionaire households jumped up nine points in September and is now at a three-month high, whilst - although not having taken quite as big a leap - confidence among affluent households also improved, according to new figures from Spectrem Group.

Having gained nine points this month, the firm's Millionaire Investor Confidence Index is back on positive ground at +1. While this represents significant progress, the score in May was, at 3, higher still. After that, the biggest dips in confidence were recorded in July and August (-7 and -8 respectively.)

Meanwhile, the Affluent Investor Confidence Index - which measures the investment confidence and outlook of households with $500,000 or more in net worth - gained two points and now stands at -8. This is up from last month’s reading of -10. As was the case for the Millionaire Investor Confidence Index, confidence levels among affluent household were at their lowest in July and September (both at -10.)

Both groups still worried about the economy

“Our monthly affluent surveys yielded mixed results in September,” said George Walper, president of Spectrem Group. “Millionaire investors moved away from cash investments toward stocks, but in non-millionaire households, caution continued to compel them to stay on the sidelines,” he explained. “Non-millionaires, too, have heightened concerns about the economy, which held down the Spectrem Affluent Household Outlook, which was basically unchanged from August.”

When asked to cite what they perceived as the biggest threats to achieving their current financial goals, affluent investors pointed to the economy and the partisan political climate, which they still believe is impeding the progress of the economic recovery.

Similarly, last month - whereby confidence among millionaire and affluent households were at 10 and eight-month lows respectively - the survey also found back then that the political environment was “overwhelmingly the news story that is most affecting their economic outlook.”

“With just over one month until the election, it is not surprising that the economy and the partisan political climate are weighing most on their minds,” the firm said in its September findings.

The Affluent Investor Confidence Index is based on 250 monthly online interviews with the financial decision-makers in households with $500,000 or more in investable assets. The Millionaire Investor Confidence Index is based on a subset of the overall survey group.