Global Investor Confidence fell by 4.4 points to 72.8 from a revised March level of 77.2. Amongst North American investors, confidence fell 4.9 points from 83.2 to 78.3. European investors were even more pessimistic, and their risk appetite declined by from 87.7 to 76.8. Asian investors, however, were somewhat less gloomy and their confidence saw only a modest decline from 87.9 to 86.2.

Developed through State Street Global Markets’ research partnership, State Street Associates, by Harvard University professor Ken Froot and State Street Associates Director Paul O’Connell, the State Street Investor Confidence Index measures investor confidence on a quantitative basis by analyzing the actual buying and selling patterns of institutional investors. The index is based on financial theory that assigns precise meaning to changes in investor risk appetite, or the willingness of investors to allocate their portfolios to equities. The more of their portfolio that institutional investors are willing to devote to equities, the greater their risk appetite or confidence.

"After recovering somewhat over the last quarter, global institutional risk appetite fell back towards its February level this month," commented Froot. "As we said last month, the recent moves off the December low of 65.9 were relatively modest, and indicate that while institutional investors see some value in the current prices of risky assets, they continue to have some trepidation."

"European investors led the field lower this month, as their confidence fell to levels last seen in 2005," added O’Connell. "This may reflect an underlying sense that Europe may not be as ‘de-coupled’ from the slow-down currently underway in the US as some have said."