Millionaires, merely affluent lose faith

Affluent investors’ confidence in the market neared an all-time low in November, as the month's sharp declines erased most of this year's gains. The Spectrem Affluent Investor Index, which measures the confidence among investors with $500,000 or more in assets, fell 5 points in November to a reading of -5, matching its second-lowest level ever. Its all-time low of -6, which was set in October 2005. Affluent investors cited housing and real estate (25%) as the factor having the greatest impact on their investment plans, followed by increasing oil and gas prices (20%). Meanwhile, the Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index, which measures the confidence of investors with $1 million or more in assets, fell 11 points in November to a reading of 3. The decline, which is the second steepest ever, approached its largest all-time drop of 14 points in March. Millionaires expressed greater concern about housing and real estate (31%) in November than their affluent counterparts, followed by concern about rising oil and gas prices (20%). The indexes are put out on a monthly basis by The Spectrem Group of Chicago.