Spectrem Group announced Wednesday that its Spectrem Affluent Investor Index fell two points in June to a level of 8, keeping the index in neutral territory for the fourth-consecutive month.
This June decline contrasts strongly with May’s performance, when the affluent index, which measures the investment outlook of households with $500,000 or more in investable assets, rose a strong 10 points. The index has been neutral for 10 of the past 12 months, reaching mildly bullish levels only in December 2004 and February 2005. In contrast, the Spectrem Millionaire Index recorded its ninth-straight mildly bullish reading in June, falling three points to a level of 13.
Affluent investors and millionaires alike cited the economy as their top area of concern when asked about factors that might hinder their ability to achieve household financial goals.
“Affluent investors remained neutral in June, showing a slight erosion in optimism in contrast with May’s strong improvement,” said George H. Walper, Jr., president of Spectrem Group. “Uncertainty about the economy was the biggest single factor in this reversal, weighing on both affluent investors and millionaires, who tend to take a longer view of investment conditions. Looking back over the past 12 months, it is clear that the post-election bounce the affluent index saw in December 2004 was not enough to sustain higher levels of optimism for long. This group mostly likely needs some external catalyst to break free of neutral ground,”