Confidence among institutional investors slipped in April according to a survey released today by State Street Global Markets.

Global investor confidence fell by 7.6 points to 91.7 from March’s revised reading of 99.3.

Looking regionally, the confidence of North American institutional investors decreased from 114.5 to 100.2. The confidence of European investors increased slightly from a revised reading of 87.3 to 87.9 points, while the confidence of Asian investors decreased from a revised reading of 85.0 to 83.2.

Developed through State Street Global Markets’ research partnership, State Street Associates, by Harvard University professor Ken Froot and State Street Associates Director Paul O’Connell, the State Street Investor Confidence Index measures investor confidence on a quantitative basis by analyzing the actual buying and selling patterns of institutional investors. The index is based on financial theory that assigns precise meaning to changes in investor risk appetite, or the willingness of investors to allocate their portfolios to equities. The more of their portfolio that institutional investors are willing to devote to equities, the greater their risk appetite or confidence.

“After last month’s increase in confidence, some retrenchment this month is perhaps not surprising,” said Froot. “Whereas institutional investors were ready and willing to provide liquidity during March’s global sell-off, this month they returned to a more balanced course. Leaving aside last month’s high reading, confidence remains at two-year highs, with institutional investors continuing to allocate to equities and away from bonds.”

“In last month’s commentary we anticipated some increased volatility in confidence readings, due to the increase in overall buying and selling activity in the first quarter,” added O’Connell. “This month saw a pull-back by North American investors, accompanied by more modest fluctuations in Asian and European confidence. Equity indices have more or less returned to the levels seen in mid-February, and it may be that tendency observed then for U.S. investors to allocate towards foreign equities will resume.”