Metrics 2.0: Survey: 63% of wealthy Americans are more optimistic about the stock market

The study found that 63 percent of respondents were optimistic about their U.S. stock market investments, up from 48 percent in 2005 but still below the 2004 high of 66 percent.

The 2006 U.S. Trust survey of affluent Americans, the 25th in a series begun by the New York-based wealth management company in 1993, measures the confidence of a sample of the top 1 percent wealthiest Americans -- those with an adjusted gross income of more than $300,000 or a net worth greater than $5.9 million.

$16.8trillion
Wealth of top 1% of Americans, more than a third of the United States' total wealth of $50.3 trillion in 2004. (The Economic Policy Institute)

The study also found that the wealthy have shifted their portfolio holdings more towards international stocks (see chart here).
Other holdings included small-cap stocks, municipal bonds, U.S. government securities, real estate, venture capital and hedge funds.
The wealthy hold an average of 15 percent of their portfolios in real estate.
48 percent of the 2006 respondents think real estate values will increase over the next year, down from 72 percent who felt this way in 2005.

The study involved in-depth telephone interviews with 150 randomly selected wealthy Americans, with results accurate to plus or minus 7 percent.

Business & Market Intelligence

Survey: 63% of wealthy Americans are more optimistic about the stock market