America's Middle Market Businesses Share Bleak Outlook Post Election

Crotty, who has been a professional in the banking industry for more than three decades, said KeyBank's middle market clients have strong balance sheets and that there are middle market executives taking advantage of the low-rate environment – but only when they see certain opportunity.

"Given the low rates, we would have anticipated more businesses borrowing money to make investments and maintaining their cash reserves for other uses," Crotty said. "The middle market will continue to sit on cash reserves and delay investment until there is proof positive that our government can pull together and create a plan for robust and sustainable growth."

Other Notable Findings:

• Seventy percent of middle market businesses are extremely or very concerned about the fiscal cliff given the outcome of the election.
•  When asked how their perspective on the fiscal cliff has changed post-election, nearly half (47 percent) of businesses are more concerned.
• There has been a nine percent decrease in business owners planning to add employees since August. Crotty said middle market businesses, which are significant employers, have become accustomed to running leaner and may remain as such for the long view.

About the KeyBank Middle Market Business Sentiment Survey:

KeyBank partnered with Lieberman Research Worldwide on the Middle Market Business Sentiment survey to understand what businesses sentiments are impacting each organization's business strategies and tactics, identify how business costs are expected to change and determine which regulatory and global economic issues are affecting them. The survey for the current Middle Market Business Sentiment was conducted from Nov. 7- Nov. 12 among 320 financial decision-makers in middle market businesses ranging from $25 million - $4 billion annual revenues.

About KeyBank

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) was organized more than 160 years ago and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. One of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, Key has assets of approximately $87 billion as of September 2012.

KeyBank provides deposit, lending, cash management and investment services to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses in 14 states under the name of KeyBank National Association. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

SOURCE KeyCorp

Copyright 2011 PR Newswire. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

« First ‹ Previous 1 2