NEW YORK, April 2, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Advisor Confidence Index (ACI), a benchmark that gauges advisor views on the U.S. economy and stock market, reports that advisor confidence decreased slightly in March, with the index falling over 2% from February levels to close at 105.39.
"We are due for some correction," said Seith Meisler of Affiance Financial LLC. "However, I still maintain a positive outlook for the market in the next six months. Companies have taken the last few years seriously and become leaner and more profitable or on the verge of being more profitable. We will still see some consolidation (particularly in banking where recent legislative reform has taken a big bite out of profitability) and bankruptcies for companies in all industries who either did not make the necessary changes to be viable and relevant, or changes were fruitless or just too little or too late."
William McCollum of Eagle Financial Management Services LLC, said, "Economic policy makers and incumbent politicians want to 'tickle our ears' with fantasy and deaden our senses to reality."
Charts accompanying this release are available at http://media.globenewswire.com/cache/16530/file/13161.pdf
Among the four components of the ACI, only the reading on the current economic outlook experienced an increase over the prior month. The other components all had a decline month over month.
| Current economic outlook | 0.13% |
| Six-month economic outlook | -1.85% |
| 12-month economic outlook | -3.85% |
| Stock market outlook | -3.34% |
About Advisor Confidence Index's Methodology
The Advisor Confidence Index is a benchmark that gauges advisors' views on the economy. Modeled after the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, the ACI captures the sentiments of 150 independent registered investment advisors (RIAs). The index's analysis is based on the number of completed surveys and reflects only information from those surveys. This information is intended to be general in nature, and these overviews are no substitute for professional, legal, or consulting advice. This information should not be construed as advice from Rydex|SGI Advisorbenchmarking, Inc. or any of its affiliates.
About Rydex AdvisorBenchmarking, an affiliate of Guggenheim Investments
Rydex AdvisorBenchmarking is a research and analysis center focused on the registered investment advisor (RIA) marketplace. Every year through its survey website, www.AdvisorBenchmarking.com, the firm conducts multiple surveys of advisors, covering a host of business management and investment management practices. The findings and analysis of the data are then released to the marketplace as annual studies, quarterly research notes, monthly newsletters, and a confidence index. The service is aimed at helping advisors grow and enhance their firms by comparing how their businesses fare against other advisors. Advisors also learn best practices of the most successful advisors in the business. AdvisorBenchmarking is an affiliate of Guggenheim Investments.
