The CAQ’s Main Street Investor Survey measures retail investor confidence in US capital markets, global capital markets, public companies, and audited financial information. Findings from the 11th Annual Main Street Investor Survey include:

• 85 percent of investors express confidence in US capital markets, an all-time high in the survey.
• 83 percent of investors have confidence in investing in US publicly traded companies, also a record high.
• 78 percent of investors say they are confident in audited financial information released by publicly held companies.
• Investors register exceptional degrees of confidence in the ability of external auditors, audit committees, and stock exchanges to fulfill their investor protection roles.

In addition to its core confidence measures, the survey also sheds light on investor views regarding factors that might affect their investment outlook. This year’s survey confirms that retail investors are watching Washington closely. In fact, political actions taken by the White House or Congress are the top two factors that are most likely to affect their investment decisions in the next year, followed closely by a high-profile political issue: changes to US tax policy. Investors also continue to express particular concerns regarding risks to the US economy posed by the growing national debt, cyber-attacks on personal financial information or capital markets, and global political unrest.