Trump beats Clinton for investors

More voters with a stake in the stock market say Donald Trump would be better as president for their portfolios than Hillary Clinton, with about one in four saying they’ll alter their asset mix if the Republican is elected and a similar share saying they’d do so if the Democrat wins.

A Bloomberg/ Morning Consult national poll on investment, tax and economic issues shows voters with money in the market pick Trump over Clinton, 50 per cent to 33 per cent, as the person they think will be better for their portfolio. Those with more than $ 50,000 invested answer the question almost identically as smaller investors.

Partisanship is a driving force for their choices. Nearly eight in 10 Republicans say Trump would be better for their holdings, while about six in 10 Democrats say Clinton would. Independent voters are twice as likely to pick Trump as better for their portfolios.

“Donald Trump has made his business experience a key point in his campaign, and it seems to be resonating with voters,” said Kyle Dropp, cofounder and chief research officer at Morning Consult, a Washington- based media and technology company. “Even so, our polling also indicates that investors may still be tepid, with many saying they will shift their portfolios to safer assets regardless of who is elected.”

The online survey was conducted June 15-18 using a nationally representative opt- in panel of 2,001 registered voters, including 945 with money in the stock market. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points on the full sample, and plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for investors.

Registered voters as a whole strongly support some of the tax and economic policy proposals be- ing debated in the campaign, including limiting pay for corporate executives and a Clinton- backed proposal to add a 4 per cent income- tax “surcharge” on earnings of more than $5 million.

More than two-thirds support Clinton’s suggestion to increase taxes on those with earnings of more than $ 5 million, which would apply to .02 per cent of taxpayers.

At the same time, 37 per cent support Clinton’s proposal to have people pay ordinary income tax on investments held less than two years, up from one year. Almost four in 10 oppose the idea. Similarly, there is limited support for reducing corporate tax rates or lowering the top tax bracket for wealthy Americans .