Institutional investors are less optimistic this month, according to a new survey by State Street.
Its Investor Confidence Index shows confidence decreased by three points to 85.0 from December’s revised reading of 88.0.
On a regional basis, the confidence of North American institutional investors fell slightly from 98.2 to 96.1. The confidence of European investors decreased from 97.0 to 92.0, while the confidence of Asian investors fell from 90.1 to 86.8.
“This month, all three regional indices declined, the first time since December 2005 that this has occurred,” says State Street Associates director Paul O’Connell. “The confidence of both European and Asian institutional investors had reached all-time highs toward the end of 2006, so some pullback there is perhaps not surprising.”
The index measures investor confidence on a quantitative basis, analyzing actual buying and selling patterns of institutional investors. The more of their portfolio that institutional investors are willing to devote to equities, the greater their confidence.
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