Investors and Business Owners Feeling Good After Election: UBS

Seven in 10 investors in a new survey saw the Nov. 3 election results as positive for stocks, and four in five saw recently reported progress on a coronavirus vaccine as positive as well, UBS Global Wealth Management reported Thursday.

UBS surveyed 1,000 U.S. investors with at least $1 million in investable assets, and 500 U.S. business owners with at least $1 million in annual revenue and at least one employee other than themselves (none UBS clients specifically) from Nov. 9 to Nov. 12.

In one significant finding, 72% of investors said they were highly confident in the election process, as did 73% of business owners.

The two groups differed, however, on which party would control the Senate after two runoff elections in Georgia, scheduled for January: 51% of business owners said the Democrats, while 50% of investors said the Republicans, with 13% of investors saying they were unsure.

Sixty-three percent of investors expressed optimism about the economy over the next 12 months and 79% about the outlook five years out.

For their part, 70% of business owners were optimistic about the economy in the short term, and 77% for their own business.

Two-thirds of investors said they planned to make portfolio changes in coming weeks; buying the dips was the most-cited strategy. In addition, two in five planned to boost sustainable investing in their portfolios over the next six months, given the election result.

Eighty-seven percent of investors in the sample who had an advisor said they were interested in discussing their options. Eighty-three percent said doing so was especially important at this time when they are feeling cautious about a market dip and also see volatility as an opportunity.

Ninety-two percent of business owners with a financial advisor said they wanted more advice than usual, and two-thirds complained that they had not received enough contact from their professional.

In terms of the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis, investors' and business owners' confidence levels broke down this way: