New adviser survey doesn’t bode well for Obama
The latest Brinker Barometer does not bode particularly well for President Obama.
Whatever happens with today’s election, it’s pretty clear financial advisers tracked by Brinker Capital Inc. are hoping for a change in the White House.
Nearly 500 advisers surveyed last month as part of the quarterly Brinker Barometer report found that 53% believe the current tax rates are “on target” and another 33% believe the rates are too high.
On which candidate will likely make the Bush-era tax cuts permanent, 88% of respondents selected Republican Mitt Romney.
Corporate tax rates? As one might have expected, 70% of respondents believe cuts are needed there, too.
In terms of the single most important issue determining who they will vote for, 88% of the adviser respondents chose the economy, followed national defense at 5%, and pro-life/abortion at 3%.
In case you haven’t already gotten the sense that many of these respondents are leaning to the right, more than 80% of respondents believe the best way to manage the federal deficit and budget is to cut spending, and 76% of respondents do not believe President Obama has advanced U.S. national security in the Middle East.
The only part of the survey results that don’t suggest a pure slam dunk of this group voting for Mr. Romney is how the respondents compared and contrasted the past few years.
Compared to four years ago, 44% of respondents think the U.S. economy is now worse off, while 41% think it is better off, and 15% think it is about the same.
But compared to this time last year, only 36% think the economy is worse off, 26% think it is better off, and 38% think it is unchanged.
However, when the advisers were asked whether their clients are better off now than they were a year ago, only 18% said they are worse off now, 34% said the clients are better off, and 48% said clients are about the same as they were a year ago.
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