Millionaires Finally Over Their Pessimism Hot
After three years in negative territory, the so-called "millionaire confidence index" is finally back up at zero -- midway between the pessimism that's ruled the markets since 2007 and the optimism that advisors have tried to instill in their best clients.
According to Spectrem, which tracks attitudes among the high-net-worth population, millionaires are now neutral on the investment environment. They may not be actively confident, but at least the climate of fear that has prevailed since the last time the index was truly positive -- December 2007 -- has evaporated significantly.
Still, HNW individuals are still worried about the economy, Spectrem says, so advisors could do well to continue their hand-holding activities for the time being.
Less wealthy clients are definitely still frightened. Among the "affluent" (defined as those with $500,000 to $1 million to invest), Spectrem's confidence reading is still deeply negative at -13.