Nervous investors tread water in July
Investor risk appetite increased marginally in July, with the global State Street Investor Confidence Index (ICI) tracking up from 93.3 to 94.
The ICI is based on actual trades made by institutional investors, and measures risk appetite by looking at the allocation to equities. A reading of 100 is neutral - it is the level at which investors are "neither increasing nor decreasing their allocations to risk assets", according to State Street.
The North American ICI fell 0.6 points from June's 93.7 to 93.1, and the European reading dropped by 0.5 points to settle at 101.7.
The Asian ICI remains the most bearish, sitting at 91.
Harvard University professor Kenneth Froot - who developed the ICI with his colleague Paul O'Connell of State Street Associates - said institutional investors were sending a message of caution in July.
"The pick-up in equity buying that we noted last month proved short-lived, and flows had turned negative by the end of our July sample," he said.
The July ICI sample ended just before the latest round of policy pronouncements from European policymakers, Froot added.
"As such, it remains to be seen whether these policy moves will have a meaningful impact on risk appetite," he said.
Recommended for you
ASIC has launched court proceedings against the responsible entity of three managed investment schemes with around 600 retail investors.
There is a gap in the market for Australian advisers to help individuals with succession planning as the country has been noted by Capital Group for being overly “hands off” around inheritances.
ASIC has cancelled the AFSL of an advice firm associated with Shield and First Guardian collapses, and permanently banned its responsible manager.
Having peaked at more than 40 per cent growth since the first M&A bid, Insignia Financial shares have returned to earth six months later as the company awaits a final decision from CC Capital.
