CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 2004--State Street
Global Markets, the investment research and trading arm of State
Street Corporation (NYSE:STT), released today the results of the State
Street Investor Confidence Index(SM) for October 2004.
According to the October index, investor confidence increased by
0.9 points from September's revised reading of 84.7.
Developed by Harvard University professor Ken Froot and Paul
O'Connell of State Street Associates, the research unit of State
Street Global Markets, the index shows that October brings no strong
changes in the risk appetite of global institutional investors.
Declines in 2004 that have previously plagued investors' willingness
to hold risky assets appear to have temporarily subsided.
"American voters' uncertainty in advance of the upcoming U.S.
presidential election is similar to the status-quo mentality that
prevails for global investors with respect to risk," commented Froot.
"Even with record high oil prices, a difficult earnings season, and
renewed uncertainty about economic growth, particularly in Asia,
professional investors do not see many top-down opportunities to
reallocate without further developments in the U.S. political
landscape."
"We suspect that the recent muted index changes obscure important
differences across investors in different regions of the world," added
O'Connell. "We look forward to publishing additional regional,
sub-indexes of the Investor Confidence Index (ICI)."
Since its launch in September of 2003, the State Street Investor
Confidence Index(SM) has become 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 and investment research and trading.
With $9.0 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 provides trading services in foreign
exchange, equities, fixed income, derivatives and money market
products to institutional investors worldwide. It is the leading
provider of transition management and portfolio rebalancing. State
Street Global Markets' Global Link network, which is used by 80
percent of the world's largest investors, integrates unique flow-based
research and leading-edge electronic trading and crossing platforms to
provide access to liquidity and to analytical and trading tools that
are designed to enhance returns and reduce risk.
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, October 19, 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=4744652
CONTACT: State Street CorporationHannah Grove, 617-664-3377
Carolyn Cichon, 617-664-8672
SOURCE: State Street Corporation