Despite growth in confidence among institutional investors in the United States, Asian investors remain cautious, according to State Street.
The State Street Investor Confidence Index for May revealed confidence in Asia fell to 93.1 from 98.0 in April.
"This indicates that Asian institutional investors are reducing the amount of risk on their portfolio. It may reflect that the opportunities out of the region look limited," State Street senior macro strategist Dwyfor Evans said.
The risk appetite of institutional investors in Europe and the US tells a different story.
Confidence in Europe rose to 84.3 in May from 76.8 in April, and sentiment in the US shot up 9.6 points to 104.9.
Buoyed by the figures in the US, total global confidence was at 106.3 in May, a rise of 3.1 points.
Evans said the latest figures pointed to some signs of recovery in North America.
"This month's increase of global investor confidence affirms the return of institutional investors to risk-taking behaviour that occurred last month after a seven-month hiatus," State Street associate Paul O'Connell said.
In May, State Street revised the Investor Confidence Index to provide a better risk tolerance guide.
The level of 100 is now neutral, anything above this reveals institutional investors are increasing their allocations to risky assets and readings below 100 indicate institutional investors are reducing allocations.
