By Jeremy Gaunt, European Investment Correspondent
LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Investor confidence fell to its lowest level on record for the second month in a row in November as a flight from riskier assets continued to grip financial markets, State Street said on Tuesday.
The U.S. financial services firm said, however, that the rate of decline in confidence had levelled off somewhat after October's dramatic tumble.
The global State Street Investor Confidence Index fell to 57.0 in the month from 58.4 in October, upwardly revised from 58.2. The figure for September was 75.7.
November's level was the lowest recorded in the more than 10 years for which State Street has compiled the index.
Despite this, Ken Froot, the Harvard University professor who co-developed the index for State Street, found some positives in the latest data, given a far greater fall in sentiment a month earlier.
MSCI's main world stock index has fallen more than 17 percent since the last index was compiled, but the index's decline was relatively modest.
"Coming on the heels of last month's dramatic decline, this month's readings provide a measure of relief," Froot said.
"While market prices saw further write-downs on the realisation that fundamentals have deteriorated substantially in the face of a looming recession, institutional investors did not react as strongly as last month to these changing circumstances."
Confidence among North American investors was essentially flat, declining to 49.9 from October's revised level of 50.0.
State Street said the drivers of the decline in overall sentiment were European investors, whose confidence fell to 73.6 from 79.5, and Asian investors, among whom sentiment slipped to 82.3 from 87.8.
"Last month's decline in North American investor confidence foreshadowed the decline in U.S. consumer confidence to a record low in October, said State Street's Paul O'Connell, another co-developer. "The fact that North American institutional investors did not accelerate further the pace of their deleveraging this month could be seen in a positive light," he said.
The index is extrapolated from movements in $14 trillion of assets State Street holds as custodian for institutional investors. (Editing by Stephen Nisbet)