POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Global confidence up, but down in Europe
Global institutional investor confidence rebounded in March after dropping sharply this year from its December peak, despite a plunge in Europe.
The State Street Global Markets Investor Confidence Index, which quantifies investor confidence based on allocations to equities, noted an increase of 6.5 from February’s revised reading of 91.8 to reach 98.3.
The index had fallen from a high of 104.2 in December, which was the highest level since March 2010.
The March increase was largely due to a sharp rise in North America, where confidence rose 10.5 points to 103. Confidence was also up 8.7 points in Asia to 100.2 but declined sharply in Europe, down 15 points to 64.3.
“After the declines in February, March saw something of a rebound in confidence and institutional investors were comfortable adding to equity holdings after the pull back in prices that took place between 3 March and 16 March,” said index co-developer Ken Froot of Harvard University.
European investors were more cautious due to ongoing uncertainty around the size and form of the ‘Pact for Euro’ aimed at address the sovereign debt crisis, he said. Electoral uncertainty in Germany may also have been holding investors back, he added.
Fellow co-developer Paul O’Connell of State Street Associates said that institutional flows into emerging markets rose slightly in March but flows into developed markets were lackluster.
“Asia remained a destination of choice, despite the supply-chain uncertainty stemming from the tragic earthquake in Japan,” O’Connell said.
Recommended for you
The Super Members Council has outlined a bold reform plan to boost productivity, lift retirement savings, and unlock super’s full potential.
Women beginning their careers in 2025 could retire with hundreds of thousands of dollars more in super due to the 12 per cent super guarantee rate, HESTA modelling shows.
The two funds have announced the signing of a non-binding MOU to explore a potential merger.
The board must shift its focus from managing inflation to stimulating the economy with the trimmed mean inflation figure edging closer to the 2.5 per cent target, economists have said.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
88.01 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
72.60 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
44.46 3 y p.a(%)
4
Pengana High Conviction Equities B
39.12 3 y p.a(%)
5
Pengana High Conviction Equities A
39.05 3 y p.a(%)
