That is according to the latest poll from SEI Advisor Network, which shows 74% of advisors want Romney to win, in line with a similar poll in May. Yet slightly more than half (52%) say they believe Romney will win the election, a switch from the May results, when 63% of advisors thought Obama would triumph in November.
The poll was mailed to the same group of advisors who were polled at the SEI event in May. All of the respondents are independent financial advisors managing about $100 million or more in client assets.
SEI began compiling 130 responses late last week, said Steve Onofrio, managing director at SEI Advisor Network. Another 50 responses have come in after a video emerged this week in which Romney says he does not worry about the 47% of voters who do not pay federal income taxes and who he said see themselves as "victims" entitled to government handouts. Those 50 polls did not skew the original response percentages, according to Onofrio. Surveys of less than 400 respondents may not be indicative of a group's opinions.
"Our sense is that it's about the economy, it's about entitlements and the tax fiscal cliff on Jan. 1," Onofrio said. "I think that's what we're seeing."
One reason the advisors polled were more inclined to back Romney? They may see themselves in him - 84% said Romney would make a better financial advisor than Obama.
While advisors polled clearly showed more support for Romney, their experience in the last four years was mostly drawn down the middle: 51% said they were better off than they were four years ago, versus 49% who said they were not.
When it comes to policy, 79% of advisors toll pollsters Romney would have a positive impact on the economy, while 56% expressed more confidence that Romney would steer the country away from a "fiscal cliff," versus 12% who preferred Obama - and 11% who believe the government will resolve the issue no matter who wins in November.
Most advisors (86%) said they think their political views match those of their clients. Still, 56% said political views are not important to clients when working with an advisor, versus 44% who felt their political views rank high on clients' priority lists.
