As John Howard and Kevin Rudd battle for the top job, research has found financial advisers place more trust with Federal Treasurer Peter Costello when it comes to the economy.
Research house brandmanagement asked planners if a Labor government would be better or worse for investment markets.
The most recent quarterly research found 7.7 per cent of advisers said it would be better, 76.3 per cent said worse and 16 per cent were neutral.
A total of 487 planners responded to the current survey.
In the previous quarter, 11 per cent said Labor would be better, 74.6 said worse and 14.4 were neutral. There were 649 adviser responses.
"It shows advisers are anti-Labor," head of market intelligence Craig Phillips said.
"There's not much movement quarter on quarter. Advisers don't see Labor adding much to the investment market."
The poll did not ask financial planners their opinion on a Liberal government being better or worse for investment markets.
Respondents were asked to rate their level of trust in Rudd, Howard and Costello in running the economy.
Advisers were mostly neutral for Rudd, and largely trusted Costello over Howard. Figures varied only slightly quarter to quarter.
In this quarter, just 1.1 per cent said they trusted Rudd completely, compared with 10.7 for Howard and 12.4 per cent for Costello.
"While there's a big schoolyard battle going on between Rudd and Howard, advisers are looking for certainty of markets and look to the treasurer," Phillips said.
