Investor Confidence Down
More wealthy Americans are pessimistic about the economy, a survey finds.
More wealthy Americans have a dreary economic outlook, a recent survey by PNC found.
Fifty-three percent of respondents said they expect stocks to perform poorly in 2009, according to the bank's Wealth Management division, which polled nearly 1,300 Americans with more than $500,000 in assets.
"Markets never bottom when investors are optimistic," Thomas P. Melcher, a managing director at PNC Wealth Management, said in a statement. "These findings represent a bottoming process. The number of sellers declines as pessimism rises and it appears that many investors are sitting on the sidelines waiting for a recovery."
Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they're worried that inflation will exceed the returns of their portfolios, while nearly two-thirds are concerned about a looming recession. Others expect the value of their homes to decline as the real estate market continues to sputter.
Still, many investors remained optimistic about long-term goals, with two-thirds saying they feel confident about having control over their financial future and half saying they're on the right track for retirement.
"Sophisticated investors know that in the long run, valuation drives future returns and the market is cheap on virtually every measure," Melcher said. "Investors may not be happy at the current time, but they realize the market will eventually turn and when it does they are likely to be handsomely rewarded for their perseverance."
