A new poll suggests nearly half of millionaire investors stateside are considering selling some of their stock holdings, and nearly a third may withdraw from the market entirely depending on the results of the presidential election.
The survey, conducted by UBS, found that 47% of Americans with at least $1 million in investable assets may reduce their market exposure due to uncertainty over the election. The poll finds another 9% have already done so.
Depending on the results, a quarter of millionaire investors said they will pull out of the market entirely, and 5% have already done so.
Millionaire investors also continue to hold large amounts of cash. The survey found these wealthy Americans are keeping around 20% of their portfolios in cash, in line with their post-2008 average.
Still, their investment plans depend in large part on whether their preferred candidate wins. And, like the rest of the country, the wealthy are politically polarized. In all, 61% said that if their favored candidate wins, the election would have a positive impact on the market. Nearly two-thirds said that if the opposing candidate were to win, it would have a negative impact on the stock market.
Yet millionaires are almost evenly divided politically, suggesting that whoever wins the election, some investors will buy and others will sell. Of the nearly 2,000 investors included in the core sample, 34% were Republicans, 31% were independent and 27% were Democrats.
