Advisor Confidence Plunges in April

NEW YORK, May 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The WealthManagement.com Advisor Confidence Index (ACI), a benchmark of financial advisors' views on the U.S. economy and the stock market, fell by 6.7 percent in April, a steep reversal after five months of increasing optimism. The ACI fell to 108.77, a level not seen since the beginning of the year, and the first decline in the monthly reading since November.

The WealthManagement.com ACI data is compiled from a survey of more than 300 panel members who agreed to participate on a monthly basis, recording their level of confidence across four categories: confidence in the current state of the economy, confidence in the economy in both six months and twelve months, and confidence in the near-term future of the stock market.

It was largely a steep drop in advisors outlook on the stock market that drove the falloff in overall confidence; that component of the index dropped 8.9 percent. "Stocks have gotten ahead of the economy," said Bud Abbot of Family Endowment Partners.