25/04/2012
Investor Confidence Index falls 3.9 points in April
The State Street Investor Confidence Index (ICI) for April 2012 fell 3.9 points from 91.6 to 87.7. Declining sentiment among Asian institutional investors was the driving force, as the ICI for that region decreased 7.5 points from 94.5 to 87.0. Elsewhere sentiment was relatively static, with the North American ICI registering a decline of 0.7 points to settle at 88.8, and the European ICI ticking down by 0.1 point to reach 100.5.“The Asian ICI is now at an all-time low, and reflects particularly concerted selling of equities by Asian domiciled institutions. It would appear that concerns about the impact of slower growth both within and outside Asia are taking their toll and causing investors in that region to increase cash and fixed income holdings,” said State Street. “Among North American and European investors, we observed a somewhat selective approach to equity allocations this month,” added the asset manager. “Investors cut back on their positions in Latin America, and instead allocated towards Europe and the UK.”
