Institutional investor sentiment may be stabilising, with the State Investor Confidence Index falling just 1.4 points this month after its dramatic 17.3 point fall last month.
The November index shows European investors to be the drivers of the decline, with investor confidence in that region falling by 5.9 points, followed closely by Asian investor confidence, which dropped 5.5 per cent.
The index showed global investor confidence dropped from 58.4 to 57 points in November, with confidence among North American investors essentially flat.
Harvard University professor and co-author of the index, Ken Froot, said while market prices saw further write-downs in the face of a looming recession, “institutional investors did not react as strongly as last month to these changing circumstances”.
“Last month’s decline in North American investor confidence foreshadowed the decline in US consumer confidence to a record low in October and the declines in European and Asian investor confidence that took place this month,” he said.
“Nevertheless, the fact that North American institutional investors did not accelerate further the pace of their de-leveraging this month could be seen in a positive light,” Froot said.
ASFA has urged greater transparency and fairness in the way superannuation levies are set and spent.
Labor’s re-election has reignited calls to strengthen Australia’s $4.2 trillion super system, with industry bodies urging swift reform amid economic and demographic shifts.
A major super fund has defended its use of private markets in a submission to ASIC, asserting that appropriate governance and information-sharing practices are present in both public and private markets.
A member body representing some prominent wealth managers is concerned super funds’ dominance is sidelining small companies in capital markets.