Taking the pulse of the Denver investor

(Editor’s note: This is the first of three parts.)

A new Morgan Stanley Wealth Management poll shows that Denver area high net worth (HNW) investors with at least $100,000 in investable assets are confident that they will achieve their long-term financial goals. At the same time, those investors are bullish about the Denver and Colorado economies as well as the U.S. and global economies.

As part of a national survey of 1,004 US investors, age 25 to 75, with $100,000 or more in investable household financial assets, an oversample of 304 Denver investors were interviewed. About one in three of those interviewed had $1 million or more in household financial assets. The poll was conducted October to December 2013, by GfK Public Affairs and Morgan Stanley Corporate Communications.

The State of the Economy and the Investment Climate

Some 90 percent of Denver investors expect their investment portfolio to be “better” or “the same” at year-end and an equal amount believe their financial well-being will be the same or better. This figure is up from 83 percent from a similar poll conducted in the first quarter of 2013 by Morgan Stanley.

Denver investors are also optimistic about the Denver (89 percent) and Colorado economies (83 percent) as well as the global (75 percent) and U.S. (71 percent) economies.

It’s encouraging to see an overwhelming majority of Colorado investors feeling confident about their portfolios and the health of the local and state economies. While this optimism on the financial home front is reassuring news, we’re seeing domestic issues still weighing on their minds.

The concerns mentioned by the most Denver investors are:

• Government budget deficit (85 percent)
• Prospects for the US economy (82 percent)
• Increased foreign conflicts (81 percent)
• National trade deficit (81 percent)
• Volatility in the stock market (76 percent)

These are followed by their family’s well-being (65 percent) and Social Security for their generation (63 percent), the effects of terrorism in the U.S. (63 percent), the ongoing threat of a government shutdown (63 percent), and incurring major health care expenses (63 percent). 

In my next two pieces, I will continue to share the findings of the Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Investor Pulse Poll.