Affluent investors in the United States are feeling more confident according to a report from consulting firm Spectrem Group.

The Spectrem Group’s Affluent Investor Index rebounded strongly in May to a neutral reading, reversing April’s sharp decline that had dropped the index to zero.

The May advance brought the index, which measures the investment outlook of households with US$500,000 or more in investable assets, to 10, within one point of mildly bullish territory, a level it has achieved only three times since June 2004.

As well, the Spectrem Millionaire Index recorded its eighth-straight mildly bullish month in May, rising five points to a level of 16.

“Affluent investors shook off some of their negative sentiment in May and moved within striking distance of mildly bullish territory, refocusing their concerns on headline issues such as higher oil and gas prices, the Iraq War and retirement. Only the next months’ data will tell us whether April’s sharp decline, which took affluent investor sentiment to the lowest level since February 2004, was an anomaly or signaled a more permanent erosion in investment optimism. However, the continued mild bullishness of millionaires, who tend to take a longer view of investment conditions, may suggest the former,” says George Walper, Jr., president of Spectrem Group.

In response to an open-ended question about the news events driving their economic outlook, affluent investors cited increasing oil and gas prices (18%), the Iraq War (13%), retirement (7%), the economy (3%), the deficit (3%), interest rate increases (3%), stock market conditions (3%) and the past presidential election (1%), the firm reported. The percentage choosing higher oil and gas prices tripled from 6% in February, the last time this question was asked.

For millionaires, the top three issues were identical to the broader affluent population with slight differences in percentages. They selected: higher oil and gas prices (20%), the Iraq War (12%) and retirement (7%).

The index is based on 250, 10-minute telephone interviews each month, giving the data a margin of error of plus or minus 6.2 percentage points.