Investors in the US are keeping a positive outlook on their portfolios, revealing in a recent survey that they expect recovery to come sooner than expected.

In the latest Edward Jones survey of American investor sentiment, there is a significant drop in the number of individuals who think it will take more than six years to recover losses, from 24 per cent in 2009 to 15 per cent in 2010. More Americans are also actively saving for retirement now than a year ago, from 69 per cent to 78 per cent. Respondents aged 55 to 64 years old reflected the greatest overall increase, with 83 per cent preparing for retirement compared to 69 per cent in 2009.

All the optimism, the survey found, came despite 67 per cent of the respondents saying that they have not recovered their losses from last year. Nevertheless, of those who earn over $100,000 a year, 16 per cent said their portfolios have recovered, versus only two percent in the previous year who thought it would be possible to achieve in one year.

"The market is clearly showing signs of improvement and investors are feeling better about the time it will take for their portfolios to recover," said Alan Skrainka, the chief market strategist at Edward Jones.

The survey, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation on behalf of the company, polled the answers of 1,000 respondents.