Financial Advisors Stay Bullish on Mag 7 Stocks

Financial advisors were bullish going into the week that included a minor market correction and they remain so in the wake of Monday’s downturn, according to the latest research from InspereX.

The midyear InspereX Pulse Survey of 487 advisors showed that 78% expect the S&P 500 Index to produce positive gains through the remainder of the year.

Of those advisors surveyed, 43% expect the S&P to gain an additional 5% this year, 30% of respondents are forecasting a 10% gain, and 5% of advisors expect the S&P to gain 20% or more from this point.

Based in Delray Beach, Fla., InspereX is a technology driven fixed income and structured products firm that started conducting financial advisor market surveys four years ago.

“We’ve been doing this since Covid because we wanted to see how advisors are operating and what their outlook is and what their top concerns are,” said Chris Mee, InspereX managing director.

“We timed it specifically for mid-summer because the second week of July is when volatility historically picks up,” he added.

Among the themes that emerged from the latest report is that advisors remain enthusiastic about the technology-sector stocks that have been leading the equity markets for much of the past two years.

More than 80% of respondents expect equities to be the top performing asset class in 2024, with alternative investments coming in a distant second, favored by 5% of advisors surveyed.

Mag 7 Stocks Seen as Top Performers in Second Half

The Magnificent Seven stocks, including Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp., Nvidia Corp. and Tesla Inc., are expected to outperform the S&P during the second half of the year, according to 56% of advisors.

The Mag Seven, represented by the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS), is down 16% from its July 10 peak, but it is still up more than 25% this year.

In terms of their biggest concerns for the remainder of the year, 31% of advisors cited market volatility, 21% said inflation and 20% said interest rates.

And when advisors were asked to list the top concerns of their clients, 31% said market volatility, 29% said the upcoming U.S. presidential election and 28% said inflation.

“The election is a low concern for advisors,” said Mee. “But this makes me think the election is one of the first things clients talk about when meeting with their advisor.”