Even with the volatility that besieged the markets in late summer and early fall, a minority of mutual fund investors have pulled their money out of mutual funds, a new survey confirms.
The survey, conducted by the Mutual Fund Education Alliance, a no-load fund company trade group, found that nearly 70 percent of respondents have made no significant changes to their portfolios since August.
Consumer confidence also does not appear to have been shaken by the market turmoil. Less than five percent of those who responded said the volatile market caused them to delay decisions to buy either a home, a car or to take a vacation. Almost 80 percent of the respondents said that the market has not affected them at all in making other financial decisions.
The poll was taken from Oct. 24 to Nov. 6. Over 2,000 people responded, and of those, 85 percent said they were self-directed investors who did not use a broker or adviser. The survey was conducted through the MFEA website at www.mfea.com.
These investors also said it would take a significant decline in the market to make them move their money out of stock funds and into money market or bond funds or cash. While 13 percent said they would move their money out of stock funds if the market dropped more than 20 percent, 64 percent said they would not make a "significant move regardless of market decline."
Investor confidence in the market's ability to rebound also appears high. Nearly 50 percent of the respondents said they expected the Dow to be between 9,000 and 10,000 one year from now. But, only eight percent believed that the Dow would rise above 10,000 points.
"Investors have told us that they intend to stay invested in their mutual funds. Their actions seem to be dispelling the myth that fund investors don't know what to do during times of market uncertainty," Michelle Smith, managing director of the MFEA said in a statement.
