Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Pulse Survey Reveals Mixed Sentiment Amid Hot Market and Cool Inflation

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management today announced results from its quarterly individual investor pulse survey:

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• Amid record market highs, bullishness remains elevated. 61% of investors are bullish this quarter–in line with last quarter (60%).
• And higher prices continue to be a concern. Inflation remains the top concern for investors (54%), followed by the 2024 election (34%), market volatility (22%), and a recession (20%).
• Investors are skeptical on rate cuts. Less than half (48%) believe the U.S. economy is healthy enough for the Fed to cut rates this quarter, down from 51% last quarter.
• Though the majority believe cuts are on the horizon. 54% believe the Fed will cut rates in the second half of the year.
• And many believe the market will continue to rise before Q4. Over half of investors (59%) predict the market will rise by the end of the third quarter.

“It’s understandable to see bullishness remaining steady this quarter as the market pushed higher driven by mega-caps,” said Chris Larkin, Managing Director, Head of Trading and Investing, E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley. “On the flipside, the narrow market could make some traders jittery especially when compounded by a higher for longer rate stance from the Fed. So, it’s easy to see how investors can have mixed emotions about where we stand when it comes to the market and the economy.”

The survey explored investor views on sector opportunities for the third quarter of 2024:

• IT – Tech continues to take the leading spot for investor interest, as mega-cap tech names dominate, with the chips and AI space holding its ground.
• Energy – As oil prices trended higher, positive views of energy stocks mounted this quarter.
• Health care – Amid political and economic uncertainty, investors continue to look at health care—a traditionally defensive sector, although interest dipped from the previous quarter by 2 percentage points as the market moved higher.

About the Survey

This wave of the survey was conducted from July 1 to July 16 of 2024 among an online US sample of 891 self-directed investors, investors who fully delegate investment account management to financial professionals, and investors who utilize both. The survey has a margin of error of ±3.20 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. It was fielded and administered by Dynata. The panel is broken into three investable assets: less than $500k, between $500k to $1 million, and over $1 million. The panel is 60% male and 40% female and self-select as having moderate+ investing experience, with an even distribution across geographic regions, and age bands.

About Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, a global leader, provides access to a wide range of products and services to individuals, businesses and institutions, including brokerage and investment advisory services, financial and wealth planning, cash management and lending products and services, annuities and insurance, retirement and trust services.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in 42 countries, the Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

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