State Street
Institutional Investor Indicators
Investment insights based on facts, not surveys.
The State Street Institutional Investor Indicators provide investors, policymakers, and the public with insights into the aggregated and anonymized positioning, risk appetite, and portfolio carbon exposures of thousands of institutional investors around the world, representing trillions of dollars in assets.
The State Street Institutional Investor Indicators provide investors, policymakers, and the public with insights into the aggregated and anonymized positioning, risk appetite, and portfolio carbon exposures of thousands of institutional investors around the world, representing trillions of dollars in assets.
State Street Institutional Investor Holdings Indicator
The Holdings Indicator tracks the aggregated portfolio holdings of institutional investors across stocks, bonds, and cash in percentage terms.
Key facts
- The Institutional Investor Holdings Indicator measures the broad asset allocations of institutional investors to cash, stocks, and bonds
- During times of market stress, cash allocations tend to rise while stock allocations tend to fall
- When short-term interest rates are relatively high, cash holdings tend to rise relative to bonds
- Released monthly
Our latest report
Holdings
- Equity allocations stayed elevated through January, reaching the highest level since 2007, while bond allocations fell to the lowest since 2008 and cash remained out of favour.
- Portfolios remained a clear regional outlier in favour of the US, with Europe closer to benchmark and emerging markets still underweight, despite a gradual move back from very low levels.
- In FX holdings, the US dollar underweight remained entrenched, with overweights in a mix of high yielding currencies and the euro.
RiskAppetite
- The State Street Risk Appetite Index eased back to neutral after a stronger mid month tone, as Fed uncertainty and liquidity concerns encouraged a more balanced stance into month end.
- Risk taking became more selective, with additive flows into emerging market bonds and FX and high yield versus investment grade, rather than a broad retreat from risk.
- Risk reducing flows leaned against equities, cyclicals versus defensives, and commodity related exposures, consistent with a modest shift towards caution late in the month.
Holdings
- Fixed Income ex Bills
- Equities
- Cash
State Street Institutional Investor Risk Appetite Indicator
The Risk Appetite Indicator quantifies the degree to which the trading patterns of institutional investors are risk seeking or averse, on a scale of -100% (most risk averse) to 100% (most risk seeking).
Key facts
- The Institutional Investor Risk Appetite Indicator measures the buying and selling of risky assets across 22 dimensions of risk
- These range across asset classes: equities, fixed-income, cash, and foreign exchange
- Key dimensions include stock versus cash allocations, cyclical versus defensive equities, high-yield versus investment-grade corporate bonds, and US Dollar currency flows
- Released monthly
Our latest report
Holdings
- Equity allocations stayed elevated through January, reaching the highest level since 2007, while bond allocations fell to the lowest since 2008 and cash remained out of favour.
- Portfolios remained a clear regional outlier in favour of the US, with Europe closer to benchmark and emerging markets still underweight, despite a gradual move back from very low levels.
- In FX holdings, the US dollar underweight remained entrenched, with overweights in a mix of high yielding currencies and the euro.
RiskAppetite
- The State Street Risk Appetite Index eased back to neutral after a stronger mid month tone, as Fed uncertainty and liquidity concerns encouraged a more balanced stance into month end.
- Risk taking became more selective, with additive flows into emerging market bonds and FX and high yield versus investment grade, rather than a broad retreat from risk.
- Risk reducing flows leaned against equities, cyclicals versus defensives, and commodity related exposures, consistent with a modest shift towards caution late in the month.
Risk Appetite
State Street Institutional Carbon Indicator
The Carbon Indicator measures the level of carbon exposure in institutional portfolios and reveals what is driving the shifts in overall carbon exposure as well as the carbon efficiency with which portfolio companies generate revenue.
Key facts
- Measures the amount of carbon exposure in institutional portfolios, in terms of aggregate portfolio emissions (tonnes of CO2 emitted) and aggregate portfolio carbon intensity (carbon efficiency, or emissions divided by million USD revenue)
- Can be broken down into regions as well as drivers (i.e., whether carbon reduction is due to company-level decisions around emissions or investor decisions to buy or sell carbon-exposed companies)
- Developed in partnership with S&P Global, a market leader in carbon data, and powered by S&P Global Sustainable1
- Released annually
Our latest report
Between March 2024 and March 2025, carbon risk moved in different directions according to our separate metrics of carbon risk exposure:
- The carbon emissions exposure of the aggregate institutional portfolio increased slightly, but remains below 2019 levels.
- The carbon intensity exposure of the aggregate institutional portfolio continued to fall, as companies’ revenues grew faster than their carbon emissions.
1. Peter L. Bernstein Award for Best Article in an Institutional Investor Journal in 2013; Bernstein-Fabozzi/Jacobs-Levy Award for Outstanding Article in the Journal of Portfolio Management in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2013 (2), 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021; Graham & Dodd Scroll Award for article in the Financial Analysts Journal in 2002 and 2010. Roger F. Murray First Prize for Research Presented at the Q Group Conference in 2012, 2021, 2023. Harry M. Markowitz Award for Best Paper in the Journal of Investment Management in 2022, 2023. Doriot Award for Best Private Equity Research Paper in 2022.