Private bank customer confidence rises

Confidence among private banking customers and other investors is on the up, buoyed by recent gains on stock markets around the world.

New data from the Investment Management Association (IMA) shows the firm’s Confidence Index hitting 106 for May 2009.

This is comfortably above the ’neutral’ level of 100 - meaning that investors feel more positive than negative about the current financial conditions.

Just six months ago, the index was at 71, with concerns over the stability of the financial system high following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the UK government’s £37 billion bank rescue scheme.

The FTSE 100 fell across 2008 and hit a low of 3,500 in June 2009 - but has since gained around 25 per cent due to reports of ’green shoots’ of economic recovery from the financial crisis.

IMA chief executive Richard Saunders commented: ’These findings suggest that investors are feeling more optimistic about the investment market than they did six months ago although they are still cautious about re-entering it.

’This improved mood is consistent with IMA sales statistics which show modest net retail inflows into equity funds over the last two months, but much healthier ones into corporate bond funds over the last six months.’ ADNFCR-2318-ID-19211924-ADNFCR