Investor confidence is at its highest level since 2009, with 73 percent expressing confidence in U.S. capital markets, according to a survey by the Center for Audit Quality released Thursday.
Confidence fell sharply after the 2008 financial crisis, hitting a low of 61 percent in 2011, but has averaged an increase of a four points a year since then and now matches the pre-crisis level, the survey found.
The level of confidence in publicly traded companies, 80 percent, actually exceeds the pre-crisis levels of 75 percent.
“It’s the highest it’s been since we started asking the question in 2008,” said Cindy Fornelli, CAQ’s executive director. “Overall, just looking at the landscape, investors are seeing reasons to … be optimistic.”
The three top reasons for optimism by investors, tied at 15 percent of responses, were the belief that the market was in good shape, that their own portfolios were doing well and that they had regained confidence in the government.
The investors who lack confidence in the markets think the opposite, with 24 percent citing the weakness in the economy and 33 percent citing Washington as the problem, because of a lack of leadership, partisan gridlock or government meddling in the economy.
“The government is both a confidence gainer and a confidence killer,” Fornelli said.
Meanwhile, overseas turmoil has kept them investing in the U.S. Only 43 percent expressed confidence in capital markets abroad, still far below the pre-crisis levels when 57 percent expressed confidence. That was up from its low of just 35 percent in 2011, though.
The CAQ’s survey involved 1,049 investors interviewed by phone Aug. 12-20. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.
