BOSTON -- By in large, investors are confident with the actions they have taken during the economic crisis with many choosing to stay the course, according to a new survey.

The 2008 Natixis Global Associates Investor survey, conducted Nov. 6-11 by Richard Day Research, Inc., was based on 600 interviews with investors 44 years and older with a minimum of $250,000 in investable assets. Sub-groups included 200 retirees and 200 pre-retirees working with advisers and 200 self-directed individuals.

Eighty-four percent of respondents said they were "overwhelmingly" confident with their investment plans. Among the most frequent actions cited were staying the course and not making any changes (54%), continuing to invest as they did before the crisis (29%) and reallocating some of their portfolio into other similar investments (27%). Few cited cashing out (15%), the data showed.

The vast majority (84%) of investors with advisors who reallocated did so based on advice from their advisor. Twenty-nine percent of advisors with investors compared to 21% of self-directed individuals took steps to reallocate some of their portfolio.

While 81% of respondents agreed that their advisor handled their situation "as well as one could ever expect" under the circumstances, 29% "strongly" disagreed with the statement that their advisor prepared them on how to handle severe market volatility.