Should the rest of us worry that wealthy investors are bullish?

Look out below: Wealthy investors are the most bullish they’ve been since before the 2008 global financial crisis.

About 57% of high-net-worth investors around the world say they are upbeat about the next 12 months, according a survey by deVere Group, a financial advisory firm.

That’s up from 53% last year, and is the highest it’s been since 59% in March 2007. That was a few months before the stock market peaked prior to the onset of the financial collapse.

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Rising optimism reflects anticipation of a brightening economic picture, particularly in the United States and Europe.

However, unchecked bullishness is one of the market’s classic contrarian indicators.

Excessive optimism often precedes market setbacks, in part because bullish investors usually have poured much of their money into stocks and don’t have much additional buying power that could drive share prices upward.

In other words, when you least expect something to go wrong, it’ll go wrong.

Wealthy investors have grown steadily optimistic as the global economy has recovered in the last few years. Bullishness was 49% in 2012, 44% in 2011.

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