State Street Corporation

Investor Confidence Rose in June by 5.6 Points to 127.0

State Street Global Exchange today released the results of the State Street Investor Confidence Index® (ICI) for June 2015.
The Global ICI increased to 127.0, up 5.6 points from May’s revised reading of 121.4. Confidence among North American investors increased with the North American ICI rising 11.7 points to 142.9, up from May’s revised reading of 131.2. Meanwhile, the Asia ICI fell by 10.3 points to 87.6 while the European ICI fell 1.2 points to 102.5.

The Investor Confidence Index was developed by Kenneth Froot and Paul O’Connell at State Street Associates, State Street Global Exchange’s research and advisory services business. It measures investor confidence or risk appetite quantitatively by analyzing the actual buying and selling patterns of institutional investors. 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 reading of 100 is neutral; it is the level at which investors are neither increasing nor decreasing their long-term allocations to risky assets. The index differs from survey-based measures in that it is based on the actual trades, as opposed to opinions, of institutional investors.

“The lack of hawkish sentiment from the Federal Reserve and a reduction in guidance for rates at year-end 2016 and 2017 resulted in a boost to North America sentiment,” commented Ken Froot. “It will be interesting to see how stronger labor markets and core inflation in the U.S. offset concerns over the first rate hike.”

“In the month to June 24th there was little sign of the uncertainty surrounding Greece impacting investor confidence. Although the confidence of investors based in Europe did drop, it do so marginally and not enough to offset a rise in confidence in the US,” added Michael Metcalfe, senior managing director and head of Global Macro Strategy, State Street Global Markets. “We will need to wait to see next month’s reading to see if this was based on misplaced confidence in a resolution to the Greek saga or whether the contagion effects from Greece are indeed less than first feared.”.

N.B. – The text does not bind the staff of LMFInternational. Only the companies, organizations and associations which sign the press release and which are clearly indicated in the title of the text, are responsible for its information and contents.