CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - February 4, 2009) - Spectrem Group (
www.spectrem.com) announced
today that its Spectrem Affluent Investor Index (SAII)® rose 3 points in
January to -28, returning to a mildly bearish stance.
The gain in the affluent index, which measures the investment outlook of
households with $500,000 or more in investable assets, follows an 8-point
advance in December 2008. It returns the index to mildly bearish territory
after two consecutive bearish months.
Meanwhile, the Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index (SMII)® added 2 points
in January to -21, a mildly bearish reading. This follows its largest
advance ever of 16 points in December 2008.
"Affluent investors and millionaires both saw their investment outlook
improve slightly in January, adding to their more significant improvements
in December. The broader affluent group has now returned to a mildly
bearish stance, following a long period of overall decline that began last
summer. Nonetheless, with the economy still ranking as both groups' top
concern, we remain in a highly unpredictable environment," said George H.
Walper, Jr., President of Spectrem Group.
In response to an open-ended question about the one factor most affecting
their investment plans, affluent investors in January cited: the economic
environment (27%); stock market conditions (26%); household cash flow (8%);
retirement (7%); household income (5%); and the presidential elections
(2%). Those choosing the economic environment rose from 21% in October
2008, the last time this question was asked, while those choosing stock
market conditions fell from 40%.
Millionaires expressed more concern about the economic environment (32%)
than the affluent but less about stock market conditions (23%).
Historical Performance
August September October November December January
Spectrem
Affluent
Investor Index® -13 -22 -30 -39 -31 -28
Spectrem
Millionaire
Investor Index® -9 -18 -24 -39 -23 -21
Methodology
The Spectrem Affluent Investor Index® is based on 250 monthly interviews
with the financial decision-makers in households with $500,000 or more in
investable assets. The data have a margin of error of plus or minus 6.2
percentage points. The Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index® is based on
a subset of the overall survey group.
Contact Information: Contact:
Sharon Bially
(774) 270-1293
sharon@farrellkramer.com