Advisors remain very bullish on U.S. equities and plan to allocate a greater percentage of their clients portfolios to the asset class over the next six months, according to a new survey byAberdeen Asset Management.
In fact, more than half of those surveyed (53%) reported to expect to increase their allocation to U.S. equities over the next six months and 57% identified themselves as being most bullish on the asset class than others including developed and emerging market equities, as well as U.S. investment grade and high yield corporate bonds.
The survey also revealed that nearly four in ten advisors surveyed (38%) are most likely to decrease their allocation to U.S. government bonds over the next six months, while 29% said they are most likely to cut back their exposure to U.S. investment grade corporate bonds during this time period. Gold is another asset class losing favor with advisors, as 17% indicated they planned to trim their gold holdings over the next half year.
We believe the continued optimism for U.S. equities among advisors reflects the improvement of U.S. corporate financial performance since the crisis, stated Paul Atkinson, Head of North American Equities at Aberdeen Asset Management. The banking sector has gotten stronger, the housing market has begun to recover, consumer confidence is growing and corporations are increasing their profitability, creating what we think is a fertile environment for growth in U.S. equities.
The Aberdeen Asset Management Financial Advisor Survey was conducted between June 12 and 14 at the 2013 Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago. Respondents were event attendees including Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), Financial Advisors and other investment industry experts. The data is based on responses from 205 respondents.
