U.S. HNWs a bit less worried about healthcare-reform costs than mass affluent. U.S. millionaires' confidence in investment markets increased in August, according to Spectrem Group's Millionaire Investor Index (SMII). The gauge, which tracks the investment mood of financial decision-makers in households with at least $1 million in investable assets, rose 10 points in August to -10.

Last month's modest rise in the SMII follows 4-point rise in July.

Parting

Spectrem's broader Affluent Investor Index (SAII) -- which tracks market sentiment among financial decision-makers in U.S. households with at least $500,000 in investable assets -- advanced by 1 point in August to -18.

So it would seem that sentiment among U.S. millionaires on such things as the economy and capital markets has diverged from the feelings about the same things among the lower-tier affluent. The SMII in fact moved into "neutral" territory last month, while the SAII remained "mildly bearish," according to Spectrem.

When asked last month what most influenced their economic outlook, affluent investors cited health care reform (40%), the economy (11%), the political environment (10%), stock-market conditions (6%), housing and real estate (5%), and increasing oil and gas prices (1%).

Millionaires were slightly less worried about health care reform (38%) and the economy (10%) in August than the affluent.

"It seems clear that the nation's wealthiest investors remain cautious, amid uncertainty on multiple fronts," says Spectrem's president George Walper.

Chicago-based Spectrem, a consultancy that specializes in the high-net-worth and retirement markets, bases its affluent and millionaire indexes on 250 monthly telephone interviews, each about 10 minutes long. Around 100 of the interviews focused on millionaire households.

The SMII is based on interviews with a sub-set of its broader "affluent" universe -- in other words, the SAII includes the views of millionaire households, but they're mixed with insights from a larger sampling of lower-wealth householders. -FWR

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