Investor Confidence Up in August: State Street

Global investor confidence rose in August, led by a large increase among European investors, according to the State Street Investor Confidence Index released Wednesday, which also noted a boost in U.S. investor confidence.

State Street’s Global Investor Confidence Index reached 107.3, a 5.1-point increase from July’s revised reading of 102.2. The European ICI jumped 20.4 points to 106.0., while the North American ICI climbed 2.1 points to 106.5. The Asian ICI fell 0.9 points to 92.4.

Market watchers will need to monitor whether the higher confidence endures given recent market volatility following hawkish remarks by Federal Reserve officials, State Street’s investor behavior research chief said.

The ICI measures investor confidence or risk appetite quantitatively by analyzing institutional investors’ actual buying and selling patterns, according to State Street Global Markets.

The index assigns a precise meaning to changes in investor risk appetite: the greater the percentage allocation to equities, the higher risk appetite or confidence. A 100 reading is neutral, the level at which investors are neither increasing nor decreasing their long-term allocations to risky assets, the firm explained.

“Despite the many potential headwinds, including rising inflation concerns and energy security facing the European economy, interestingly, European investors have moved from a risk-averse posture to a more neutral posture over the past month as markets rallied through much of August,” Rajeev Bhargava, head of investor behavior research, State Street Associates, SSGM’s research and advisory business, said in a statement.

“Even after the selloff over the past week, net flows by European investors have been from developed to emerging market stocks, which has driven up the confidence score. However, it is going to be important to monitor whether the enthusiasm persists given recent heightened volatility in equity markets on the back of increasingly hawkish Fed speak.”