Just months ago, Wealth Management Exchange reported on a spate of surveys that seemed to indicate that many high net worth investors were planning to fire their advisors after suffering heavy losses and a lack of confidence during the financial meltdown of 2008.

Now comes along another survey which seems to refute those earlier findings. It reveals that nine in 10 (89 percent) who had an advisor when the market downturn started are still working with that same advisor. In fact, 20 percent say they are relying on their advisor even more than before. Additionally, close to two-thirds of respondents (61 percent) report a high level of trust in their primary financial advisor; this compares with just 10 percent of respondents who say they highly trust financial advisors or financial institutions in general.

On the all-important issue of trust, just a quarter of households (27 percent) say trust in their advisor has declined since before September 2008. Far higher percentages of affluent investors, however, have lost trust in financial institutions, the financial markets, the media and the government.

The "Northstar/Sullivan Rebuilding Investor Trust Survey," queried 1,539 individual high net worth investors and found that the financial services industry “now faces a highly distrustful and disillusioned affluent investor base as a result of the precipitous 2008 market drop.”

These wealthy investors do feel “betrayed” by Wall Street. A year after the market meltdown, nearly four-fifths (79 percent) pin most of the blame on "big Wall Street firms," with a similar number (76 percent) claiming that, "Wall Street hasn't learned its lesson" and two-thirds (65 percent) stating that individual investors are really the victims of Wall Street. The vast majority of respondents favor greater oversight of financial institutions, as well as additional oversight of financial advisors.

Other key findings: There has been a large five-fold increase in the number of affluent investors who are NOT confident in their ability to meet financial goals: 25 percent today vs. just five percent a year ago. In addition tolerance for risk has significantly decreased in all age groups; most notably in the 25-45 year bracket, the segment with the most time to recover. Overall, 54 percent classify themselves as conservative investors, compared to just 22 percent a year earlier.