Poll: Wall Street Gives Obama 17% Job Approval Rating

Half of Respondents Give President "D" or "F" Grade On Issues Impacting Financial Services Industry

Congress Receives 8% Job Approval Days Before Midterm Elections

Poll Predicts 8 of 9 Market Sectors Will Climb on GOP Win

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Oct 29, 2014, 08:02 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- ConvergEx Group, a leading provider of global brokerage and trading-related services, has released the results of its U.S. Midterm Elections Survey, exploring financial industry sentiment about President Barack Obama, the United States Congress and the impact of the 2014 midterm elections on equity markets. The survey was conducted from October 21 to October 23, 2014.

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Just 17% of respondents say they approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as President, while 73% said they disapprove. (This compares with a 41% approval/54% disapproval rating for the President in polls of the general population.¹) On handling issues of concern to the financial services industry, half (50%) of those surveyed give the President a "D" or "F" grade.

Opinions of Congress are even lower, with just 8% approving of the job being done by lawmakers and 81% disapproving. (This compares with a 13% approval/79% disapproval rating for Congress in polls of the general population.²) On handling issues of concern to the financial services industry, almost half (46%) give Congress a "D" or "F" grade.

"We are looking at the worst relationship between the financial services industry and Washington in living memory," said Nicholas Colas, ConvergEx Group chief market strategist. "You would have to go back before the modern era of regulation to find comparable antagonism toward the federal government from Wall Street."

With control of the U.S. Senate at stake, the preference of the financial industry is clear: 69% of respondents say they would like Republicans to be in control following the elections, a figure above the 65% who say they plan to vote Republican in their own House districts. By 61% to 14%, Republicans are trusted over Democrats on issues impacting the financial services industry.

For 8 of 9 market sectors, a higher percentage of respondents said equities would respond positively to a GOP win than to a Democratic win, with Energy (90% Republican vs. 11% Democrat) and Financials (88% Republican vs. 14% Democrat) seeing the greatest disparity. Only for the Heath Care sector (39% Republican vs. 64% Democrat) do more investors expect a positive outcome in response to Democrats holding the Senate.

"This survey points to hope by the end of the year, as respondents think a Republican win will lead to a rally in most sectors," said Colas. "With approval ratings currently so low they can only go up, this election could be a turning point in the relationship between Wall Street and Washington."

For more information on the U.S. Midterm Elections Survey, click here.

¹RealClearPolitics average, 10/8-10/23/2014
²RealClearPolitics average, 10/3-10/20/2014

Dramatic Disapproval
Do you approve or disapprove of the job President Obama is doing overall? Key findings:

Approve – 17%
Disapprove – 73%

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Congress is doing overall? Key findings:

Approve – 8%
Disapprove – 81%

How would you grade President Obama's job performance on issues of concern to the U.S. financial services industry? Key findings:

A/B – 23%
C – 26%
D/F – 50%

How would you grade Congress's job performance on issues of concern to the U.S. financial services industry? Key findings:

A/B – 17%
C – 38%
D/F – 46%

Party Preference
If the election were held today, would you vote for the Democrat or Republican in your district's House congressional race? Key Findings:

Democrat – 21%
Republican – 65%

Which political party, Democrats or Republicans, would you like to see controlling the U.S. Senate as a result of the elections?

Democrat – 24%
Republican – 69%

Which political party, the Democrats or the Republicans, do you trust to do a better job on issues impacting the U.S. financial services industry? Key findings:

Democrat – 14%
Republican – 61%

Responding to Republicans
What market sectors will respond positively if Democrats retain control of the Senate or Republicans gain control of the Senate? Key findings:

Energy
- Will respond positively if Democrats win – 11%
- Will respond positively if Republicans win – 90%

Financials
- Will respond positively if Democrats win – 14%
- Will respond positively if Republicans win – 88%

Health Care
- Will respond positively if Democrats win – 64%
- Will respond positively if Republicans win – 39%

Methodology
The ConvergEx Group U.S. Midterm Elections Survey was performed by ConvergEx via an online survey of financial industry participants, resulting in 186 respondents. Respondents included buy-side firms (asset managers, hedge funds), sell-side firms (banks, broker-dealers), trading venues, service providers and other financial industry participants. The survey was conducted from October 21 to October 23, 2014, and has a margin of error of +/- 10%. Rounding of decimal results may produce totals over or under 100% (by 1%).

About ConvergEx Group
ConvergEx Group is a leading provider of global brokerage and trading-related services. Its companies provide products and services in the following areas: global execution and clearing, commission management, independent research, commission recapture, options technologies, prime services and outsourced connectivity. ConvergEx Group companies do not engage in market making or investment banking, but may operate in a riskless principal and/or net trading capacity as well as in an agency capacity. In connection with certain ETF transactions requested by clients, ConvergEx Execution Solutions may act as a principal or engage in hedging strategies in connection with such transactions.

In the U.S., ConvergEx Group is comprised of ConvergEx Execution Solutions LLC (member NYSE/FINRA/SIPC), of which ConvergEx Prime Services is a division; LiquidPoint, LLC (member CBOE/SIPC); G-Trade Services LLC (member FINRA/SIPC); Westminster Research Associates LLC (member FINRA/SIPC); ConvergEx Depositary, Inc., and ConvergEx Solutions LLC, of which ConnEx, Jaywalk and LDB are divisions. ConvergEx Group, LLC is a subsidiary of ConvergEx Holdings, LLC. Additional information is available at www.convergex.com.