A growing number of advisors feel equities will perform well next year and the global economy will continue to expand, according to the CFA Institute 2014 Global Market Sentiment Survey, released Monday.

Seventy-one percent of the 6,561 CFA members polled identify equities as the asset class most likely to perform best in 2014, a big jump up from 50 percent who predicted good performance in 2013 and 41 percent in 2012.

Likewise, 63 percent of respondents think the global economy will expand in 2014, up from 40 percent who held that belief last year.

Members rate the United States (26 percent), China (10 percent) and Japan and Germany (tied at 6 percent) as the equity markets that will provide the best investment opportunity in 2014.

At the same time that CFA members are optimistic about the global economy, a significant proportion of respondents are concerned about the lack of trust investors have in the financial industry. Financial firms lack an ethical culture, according to 54 percent of the respondents. Twenty-nine percent say the action needed most to boost investor trust and market integrity is improved regulation and oversight of systemic risk.

“The number of members who expect the global economy to expand has nearly doubled in the last two years; however, this is no time for those in finance to become complacent,” says John Rogers, president and CEO of CFA Institute. “The survey reflects that investor trust has been eroded and in order for the financial industry to be an extraordinary force for good, we must embrace ethical behavior at all levels. As markets rebound, we are working to ensure that attention does not shift away from meaningful reforms that might restore investor trust and strengthen the financial system’s ability to resist shocks in the future.”