The study revealed that 25% of IFAs expect wide fluctuations in stock market prices, with a further 24% expecting equity prices to stagnate, hovering between 5,000 - 5,500 points throughout this year.
While the majority of IFAs seem pessimistic about strong stock market growth, around one in five (22%) take a more optimistic view, believing the FTSE index of leading shares will rise to between 6,000 - 7,000 points by the end of 2010. And just 4% of IFAs expect to see equity values fall in 2010.
And IFAs questioned for Prudential expect the impact of the recession, now regarded as the worse since World War II, to continue for some time, with 71% believing it will have a long term impact.
