CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2004--State Street
Associates, the research and development division of State Street
Global Markets, released today the results of the State Street
Investor Confidence Index(SM) for May 2004. State Street Global
Markets (SSGM) is the investment research and trading arm of State
Street Corporation (NYSE: STT).
According to the May index, investor confidence declined by 0.6
points from April's revised reading of 92.0. However, April investor
confidence was revised upwards by 1.2 points.
Developed by Harvard University professor Ken Froot and Paul
O'Connell of State Street Associates, the index shows that
institutional investor confidence has been essentially flat at 91.4
for the past two months, having declined from its recent high of 109.0
in December 2003.
"Professional investors made substantial downward adjustments in
the risk of their portfolios in the first few months of 2004, but are
now clearly in a holding pattern awaiting fresh news. By cutting risk,
they prepared their portfolios for possible early increases in rates
by the Fed," said Paul O'Connell.
"In the fourth and fifth months, professional investors rested.
Right now, it's a war of attrition, with recent positive earnings
surprises battling against Asian overheating, prospective US Fed rate
increases, and soaring commodity prices," said Ken Froot.
"Professional investors know the risks, and their prior efforts to
take risk off the table anticipated this struggle."
The State Street Investor Confidence Index(SM) is a key economic
indicator for asset owners, investment managers and central banks. As
the only index providing a quantitative measure tracking the common
buying patterns of institutional investors around the world, the State
Street Investor Confidence Index(SM) offers a unique look into the
investment behavior and decisions of thousands of professional
investors and their investment decisions.
About State Street Associates:
Founded in 1999 in Cambridge, Mass., State Street Associates
develops portfolio and flow research, currency management, asset
allocation services and designs strategy tools to support the needs of
global portfolio managers.
About the State Street Investor Confidence Index(SM)
The index is released globally at 10 a.m. Eastern time in Boston
on the second to last Tuesday of each month. More information on the
State Street Investor Confidence Index, and the calendar of release
dates, is available at
http://www.statestreet.com/investorconfidenceindex. The previous
month's calculations for the index are revised to account for trading
activity through the end of the reporting period.
About State Street
State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is the world's leading
specialist in providing institutional investors with investment
servicing, investment management, investment research and trading
services. With $9.4 trillion in assets under custody and $1.2 trillion
in assets under management, State Street operates in 24 countries and
more than 100 markets worldwide. For more information, visit State
Street's Web site at www.statestreet.com.
State Street Global Markets (SSGM) provides investment research,
trading services, and technology-driven tools that seamlessly connect
investment managers with buyers and sellers in global financial
markets. Portfolio allocation, decision-making and risk management
tools, along with proprietary trading platforms, have made SSGM the
world leader in electronic trading and asset allocation. Global Link,
SSGM's electronic network delivers research, analytics and trading
tools across multiple asset classes, and is used by the world's top
investment managers.
This news announcement contains forward-looking statements as
defined by United States securities laws, including statements about
the financial outlook and business environment. Those statements are
based on current expectations and involve a number of risks and
uncertainties, including those related to the pace at which State
Street adds new clients or at which existing clients use additional
services, the value of global and regional financial markets, the pace
of cross-border investment activity, changes in interest rates, the
pace of worldwide economic growth and rates of inflation, the extent
of volatility in currency markets, consolidations among clients and
competitors, State Street's business mix, the dynamics of markets
State Street serves, and State Street's success at integrating and
converting acquisitions into its business. Other important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
indicated by any forward-looking statements are set forth in State
Street's 2003 annual report and subsequent SEC filings. State Street
encourages investors to read the corporation's annual report,
particularly the section on factors that may affect financial results,
and its subsequent SEC filings for additional information with respect
to any forward-looking statements and prior to making any investment
decision. The forward-looking statements contained in this press
release speak only as of the date hereof, May 18, 2004, and the
company will not undertake efforts to revise those forward-looking
statements to reflect events after this date.
MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=4643354
CONTACT: State Street CorporationHannah Grove, 617-664-3377
or
State Street CorporationCarolyn Cichon, 617-664-8672
SOURCE: State Street Corporation