Brinker Capital, a leading investment management firm, today released results of the first quarter’s Brinker Barometer, a gauge of financial advisor confidence and sentiment regarding the economy, retirement savings, investing and market performance.
“The first quarter’s Barometer results show some interesting differences between the still-optimistic views of financial advisors contrasted against market volatility, escalating oil prices and inflationary fears,” noted John Coyne, President of Brinker Capital. “In fact, 64% of our financial advisor respondents say they are either ‘highly confident’ or ‘somewhat confident’ about the U.S. economy, and 66% feel the same way about the financial markets. What’s remarkable is that these sentiments haven’t changed in any discernible way since we began issuing the Barometer a year ago.”
If it has to be a Democrat…
Financial advisors leave little room for doubt as to which party they favor to win the presidential race, with 22% of advisors reporting in the Q4 ’07 Barometer that a Democrat in the White House was their “single greatest economic worry.” When pressed in Q1, however, to pick the Democratic candidate likely to have the most positive impact on the U.S. economy, 54% of advisors selected Barack Obama, with the remaining 46% giving the nod to Hillary Clinton. In Q2 ’07, John McCain scored highest among the three candidates still in the race as to who would most likely have a positive impact on the economy.
The Economy is Job 1
When asked what the most immediate priority of the new president should be, a full 48% of respondents said “bolstering a weak economy,” followed by 16% who noted “winning back America’s respect in the eyes of the world,” and 13% who said “shoring up a falling dollar.” Other notable responses included “capping gas prices at the pump,”“Iraq troop reduction” and “healthcare reform.”
Government to the Rescue
Asked to name the areas in which they would most welcome Federal intervention, 65% of advisors responded with “supporting a weakened dollar,” 59% with “stabilizing the financial markets,” and 31% noting “cutting interest rates before year’s end.” Other responses included “discourage job outsourcing to foreign nations,” “regulating gas prices” and “providing financial relief to embattled homeowners.”
For a copy of the full Q1 survey, please contact:
Jemile Dragovic, jdragovic@middlebergcommunications.com
About the Study
The Brinker Barometer was conducted online by Brinker Capital in March 2008. Results are based on responses from 266 advisors affiliated with insurance companies, independent broker-dealers and in sole practice. The study’s copyright is held by Brinker Capital.
About Brinker Capital
Brinker Capital, Inc. is a leading independent investment management firm which provides managed account investment programs to individual and institutional investors through financial advisors. Brinker was founded in 1987 by Charles Widger and is located in suburban Philadelphia. Assets under management were over $9.7 billion as of March 31, 2008. Visit Brinker’s website at www.brinkercapital.com.
Contacts:
Juliann Jaffe, 610-407-8320
jjaffe@brinkercapital.com
or
Middleberg
Communications, LLC.
Scott Sunshine/ Jemile Dragovic
212-354-5020
ssunshine@middlebergcommunications.com
jdragovic@middlebergcommunications.com
