CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - August 5, 2009) - Spectrem Group (
www.spectrem.com) announced
today that its Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index (SMII)® rose 4 points
in July to -16, following a substantial decline the month before.
The advance, which keeps the index in mildly bearish territory, comes on
the heels of an 18-point drop in June, which represented the biggest
one-month decline since the index's inception in February 2004.
Meanwhile, the Spectrem Affluent Investor Index (SAII)®, which measures
the investment outlook of households with $500,000 or more in investable
assets, advanced by 1 point in July to -19, also a mildly bearish reading.
"Millionaires and the broader affluent population saw their investment
optimism improve modestly in July, signaling continued caution following
June's significant declines. Despite recent stock-market gains, the
nation's wealthiest investors most likely will remain cautious until
concerns such as unemployment and political uncertainty surrounding the
healthcare debate have stabilized," 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 July cited: stock market
conditions (26%); the economic environment (16%); household cash flow (8%);
the political climate (7%); retirement (3%); and household income (2%).
Those choosing stock market conditions fell from 30% in April 2009, the
last time this question was asked, and those choosing the economy fell from
18%.
Millionaires were slightly more concerned about both stock market
conditions (28%) and the economic environment (22%) in July than the
affluent.
Historical Performance
February March April May June July
Spectrem
Affluent -38 -30 -21 -12 -20 -19
Investor Index®
Spectrem
Millionaire -34 -26 -19 -2 -20 -16
Investor Index®
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