State Street Investor Confidence Index Rose 12 Percentage Points in January

State Street Global Markets’ Global Investor Confidence Index rose from 48.2 to 60.3 in January.
Regionally, the increase was the strongest in North America, where the figures climbed 21 percentage points from 30.6 to 51.8. The increase was nearly seven percentage points in Europe, where the figure went from 66.3 to 73. It remained largely stagnant in Asia, falling minimally from 86.6 to 86.3.

Based on the buying and selling patterns of institutional investors, the index is based on their equity risk appetite.

“The move up in Global Investor Confidence this month is the largest we have seen since August 2007,” said Harvard University Ken Frott, who developed the index with State Street. “This is perhaps not surprising, with the index having registered a record low in December. [However,] it remains to be seen whether these reallocations represent changes in long-term convictions about the value of those assets.

“It may be true that institutional investors perceive that the risk of systemic collapse has abated somewhat in the wake of recent policy actions,” Frott continued.