Survey: Obama win might mean investment shifts

(File photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Investors are more likely to change their investment strategies if Barack Obama, a Democrat, is elected president than if John McCain, the Republican candidate, wins next month's election, according to a new survey from Eaton Vance Corp.

"Better than three in five investors (62 percent) say they would take action of some type if Congress allows the maximum tax rate on capital gains to revert back to 35 percent," said Eaton Vance, a Boston-based investment management firm. "While neither campaign wants to return to a 35 percent capital gains tax rate, cap gains are central to the debate. Senator McCain's tax plan currently includes extending the lowered 15 percent rate on capital gains indefinitely, while Senator Obama wants to leave the capital gains rate alone for Americans making less than $250,000 a year but raise it to 20 percent for those who make more."

That was one finding of the Eaton Vance 2008 Investor Survey, which polled roughly 1,200 people across the country with investments of $50,000 or more, the firm said.

"The survey and our experience with investors suggest that tax rates alter investor behavior," Duncan W. Richardson, chief equity investment officer at Eaton Vance, said in a statement. "The new administration and Congress should carefully consider changes to dividend and capital gains tax rates to avoid sending the wrong message to investors and corporations."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)