Investors remain bullish on domestic equities; American Skandia's fourth survey tracks consumer...

surprise that, with the excellent performance of the domestic equities market this year, investors remain bullish on investing in U.S. stocks.

According to Dr. Robert B. Seaberg, senior vice president and national marketing director of American Skandia, this trend emerged as a major factor

The survey, conducted from Sept. 18 to Sept. 20, 1995 with 607 male and 399 female heads of households, is updated quarterly to provide financial services professionals reliable, topical information from the current perspective of the investing public. "Across the board, investors continue to be very confident that the bull market will continue running," Seaberg noted.

According to the survey, mutual funds continue to be the investment choice among investors, with about the same percentage (41 percent) as last quarter selecting this as their primary investment. Stocks in domestic companies finished second in the survey, rising from 29.5 percent in June to 33.5 percent in September. And 42.4 percent of the participants responded that they'd invest in equity mutual funds, the highest percentage since the Investor Survey began 12 months ago.

Investors' confidence in the market is further underscored by the number (seven out of 10) who plan to invest in, rather than take money from, the market over the next three months. Moreover, an increasing number of respondents are optimistic about the outlook for stocks over the next 90 days, while the outlook for bonds remains neutral. Three-fourths of respondents believe that they are better off financially now than one year ago, and even more (78.6 percent) are optimistic about where they will be a year from now.

Eight out of 10 people surveyed believe that tax deferral is an important factor of their investment decision. Yet, only a third of the survey participants actually own a variable annuity, an investment in which all interest dividends and capital gains are tax-deferred. However, almost half of those who do not own a variable annuity might invest in one.

Seaberg postulates that, "One possible reason participants haven't invested in a variable annuity is that their investment advisor simply hasn't asked them to."

When asked about international stocks, most respondents replied that they have less than 10 percent of their money in the international sector. The reason that most of them don't invest internationally isn't because they believe the market is too risky or that they favor just domestic stocks. They simply don't have enough information to make a decision, according to the survey.

Survey updates have been conducted for American Skandia by National Family Opinion of Greenwich, Conn. NFO interviewed by telephone 1,000 male and female investors with household income of $75,000 or more who had directly purchased or sold stocks, bonds or mutual funds within the past year, except as part of employer sponsored retirement plans. The next update is scheduled for mid-December. Results will be available by mid-January.

American Skandia is a diversified multi-billion dollar insurance and financial services company headquartered in Shelton, Conn. and consistently one of the fastest growing providers of variable annuities in the United States. A subsidiary of Skandia Insurance Company Ltd., which was founded in 1855, American Skandia is part of the Assurance and Financial Division of Skandia, based in Stockholm, Sweden, with operations in over 23 countries. This division is a key provider of innovative unit-linked savings products and ranks among the 10 largest producers of such products in the world.

CONTACT: Thompson Becker International

Tad Gillespie or Ann Becker, 508/698-0448