Cavendish Asset Management have surveyed 203 people in July and August 2002 and revealed that only 25% of people have confidence in the market when investing.
When markets are rising, the figure is usually more like 75%, but with scandals such as Enron and Worldcom confidence in advisers, stockbrokers and analysts is at the bottom end of the scale at the moment. 47% of the 203 people surveyed believed the statement ' the Enron/Worldcom scandals show that you cannot trust even professional advisers for advice.
'Younger people are the most concerned, according to the report. Almost 60% of the under 40's refused to trust advisers. Investors between the ages of 40 and 49 were the most confident, with 51% believing the scandals showed that investment advice was more important than ever.
Paul Mumford, a senior fund manager for Cavendish, said that older investors were maybe more sceptical about valuations than younger investors because they've probably experienced bear markets before, and therefore have not had their faith in the markets and advisers shattered.