A recent survey suggests that an increasing percentage of retail investors are using financial advisors.

Last month, the Center for Audit Quality released its eighth annual “Main Street Investor Survey.” Seventy-one percent of respondents in the survey said they rely on advisors for financial advice. That’s up from 70% in 2013 and up eight percentage points from 2011.

According to the survey, more investors relied on financial advisors and brokers for advice than on company financial reports (57%), media (55%) and friends and family (55%).  Only 22% said they saw social media as an important source of information for their investment decisions.  Nearly a third of those surveyed said they are not planning on making any investments in the next 12 months.  Twenty-nine percent of advisors said they trust their advisors because of the personal relationship they have with them. An equal number said a good track record was the reason they trust advisors for directions on their decisions.

Investor confidence in the financial markets was up for the third year in a row, but still below pre-financial-crisis levels.  This year, 73% of respondents said they had some, quite a bit or a great deal invested in the markets, up from 69% in 2013. In 2007, the percentage was 84%.  As for the things they invest in, 40% of the respondents said they preferred investments that provide steady, longer term income, while only 9% said they preferred higher risk, higher growth stocks and bonds.

The survey polled 1,049 adults aged 18 and over with at least $10,000 in investments.