Registered investment advisors have mixed views on how November elections will affect the economic climate, according to Security Benefit's RIA benchmark study, released Wednesday.
The study also found advisors are eyeing up their clients' savings accounts for potential asset growth.
With volatility a constant for RIAs and their clients, the study found that 41% of RIAs predict a neutral effect, 39% foresee a net negative one and 20% expect a net positive effect.
The new study expands on findings from Security Benefit's RIA Economic Outlook Index, which it rolled out earlier this year in partnership with Greenwald Research and DPL Financial Partners. The quarterly index's inaugural edition established a benchmark measurement of 58 (on a scale of 0 to 100) for RIAs' current level of optimism about economic conditions.
Half of RIAs believe that their clients are satisfied, the study found, and 37% that they are very satisfied with their investments. Only 13% of advisors said that their clients are very or extremely concerned about a major equity downturn.
Fifty-one percent of RIAs allocated more to equities in the past 12 months, while 47% increased their allocations to long-duration fixed instruments and 45% put more into short-duration fixed instruments.
RIAs see an opportunity to attract client money currently held in bank savings products, according to the study.
Fifty-two percent of advisors said that a quarter of their clients have at least $100,000 in a bank savings account, and 82% of these advisors believe that they could attract much of that money if they were able to offer an innovative investment with competitive interest rates for a guaranteed period.
For the study, Greenwald Research surveyed in February 201 registered investment advisors from across the United States, each managing significant assets and directly interacting with clients.
