Investor confidence falls in September-State Street
LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Institutional investor confidence fell in September to the third lowest level in 10 years as market participants, especially in Asia, grew more risk averse, State Street said on Tuesday.
The U.S. financial services firm said its Global Investor Confidence Index fell to 70.7 this month from a downwardly revised 73.1 in August, which was previously reported as 77.2.
September's reading, calculated before Washington's $700-billion bailout proposal to tackle the worst U.S. financial crisis since the Great Depression, took the index back towards the all-time low of 65.9 set in December 2007.
"We have discovered that, alongside the diminution in risk appetite, there is a pronounced increase in the heterogeneity of investor positions," said Harvard Professor Ken Froot, a co-developer of the index.
"In deleveraging, institutional investors have sought to exit some of the more 'crowded' trades in the marketplace."
Asian investor confidence took a hit, falling 2.5 points to 85.8, while the North American regional index rose to 76.1 in September, up 0.9 from August.
European investors were somewhat more optimistic, with the European index rising to 81.8 from 76.4.
State Street compiles its indexes from movements in more than $15 trillion of assets it holds as custodian for institutional investors and $1.9 trillion it manages globally. (Reporting by Natsuko Waki, editing by Swaha Pattanaik)
