Affluent Investors Show a Tad More Optimism

The Spectrem Affluent Investor Index (SAII) rose 1 point in August, while the Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index (SMII) saw a 6-point gain.

Affluent investors, or those with $500,000 or more in investable assets, are now in mildly bearish territory, Spectrem Group said. Millionaires, who saw a 4-point gain in July, are now in neutral territory for the first time since May.

Affluent investors cited health care reform (40%) as the news story most affecting their economic outlook, according to Spectrem. In response to an open-ended question, they also cited: the economy (11%); the political environment (10%); stock market conditions (6%); housing and real estate (5%); and increasing oil and gas prices (1%).

The SAII is based on 250 monthly interviews with financial decision-makers, and the SMII is based on a subset of that data.

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