Confidence among affluent investors declined by record amounts last month, according to a report from Spectrem Group of Chicago.
Spectrem said Wednesday that its Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index fell 14 points from a month earlier, to 5. The decline pushed the index from a mildly bullish level, where it had been since September, deep into neutral territory.
The index's previous record drop was in June, when it fell 11 points.
The Spectrem Affluent Investor Index, which measures the investment outlook of households with $500,000 or more of investable assets, fell a record 10 points last month, to 1, also falling into neutral territory. The previous record drop was in April 2005, when it fell 9 points.
In response to an open-ended question from Spectrem about the biggest threat to their household financial goals, 10% of affluent investors cited the economy, the most frequently cited factor, followed by health related issues (8%), the political climate (8%), unemployment (8%), cost of living inflation (4%), and gas and oil prices (1%).
