Advisers Close ‘Wild Ride’ Year Bullish on US Markets

As the end of 2025 approaches, independent, fee-based financial advisers were dramatically more optimistic about the growth of U.S. markets, according to the latest Interactive Brokers’ 2025 Advisor Insights Survey, published on November 4. Surveyed in September, 51% of respondents said they felt bullish, an increase of 65% since the electronic broker’s previous survey in April. Interviewed as markets reeled from President Donald Trump’s initial tariff announcement, only 31% of surveyed advisers in April reported feeling bullish about U.S. markets. 

Similarly, the number of bearish advisers nearly halved, with 20% of September respondents having a negative outlook of U.S. markets, down from 36% in April.

The market enthusiasm in September was tempered, however, with respondents being most concerned about a market correction (22%), followed by geopolitical instability (19%) and changing U.S. government policies (15%).

“It would not be surprising if advisers and investors become more reflective about the balance between risk and reward as we get closer to the end of the year,” said Steve Sosnick, Chief Strategist at Interactive Brokers, in a statement. “2025 has been a wild—but generally satisfying—ride for most in U.S. equity markets, but markets rely heavily on investor psychology.”

As for global markets, nearly half of surveyed advisers (47%) were bullish in September, compared with 38% in April. Only 11% of respondents were bearish in September, the same amount as in April. More than one-third (35%) of fall survey respondents said they were most surprised by tariffs, and the second-most-cited surprise for the year was the price of gold (19%).

When surveyed advisers were asked how they were adjusting client portfolios given their market outlook, 21% said they were moving allocations into U.S. equities and 41% said they were investing more in non-U.S. equities.

When respondents were asked if they were confident that their advisory practices would finish the year with growth, given current market conditions, 72% believed so. About one-quarter of that group (19%) were “extremely confident,” and only one-quarter of all respondents were neutral or pessimistic about their yearly bottom line.

Interactive Brokers conducted an email survey in September, with 116 financial advisers who carried over 15 years of experience and at least $79.6 million in assets under management.