Delivering Alpha Investor Survey: It’s time to get very conservative in the stock market

Wall Street investors believe it's time to take some risk off the table as concerns continue to pile up this month, according to a new CNBC Delivering Alpha survey.

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE Investors believe it's time to get very conservative in the stock market  Results from the inaugural Delivering Alpha Investor Survey Wall Street investors believe it's time to take some risk off the table as concerns continue to pile up this month, according to the new CNBC Delivering Alpha Investor Survey.    We polled about 400 chief investment officers, equity strategists, portfolio managers and CNBC contributors who manage money about where they stood on the markets for the rest of 2021 and next year. The survey was conducted this week.   More than three quarters of the respondents said now is a time to be very conservative in the stock market when asked what kind of market risk they are willing to accept for themselves and their clients.   A confluence of uncertainties have emerged in the market, threatening to derail stocks' record-setting recovery rally. On Monday, the S&P 500 suffered its worst sell-off since May as investors grew concerned about China's troubling real estate sector and the Federal Reserve's likely rollback of its massive stimulus.  (CNBC's Delivering Alpha will take place on Sept 29. Details and registration are available at DeliveringAlpha.com) While holding a more cautious view on the market right now, investors still believe stocks could grind higher over the next 12 months. About half of the survey respondents said the S&P 500 will rise more than 5% in the next 12 months. Forty-four percent said the equity benchmark will be fairly flat, while only 5% said it will fall over the next year.   The Federal Reserve could soon take its first big step away from ultra-easy monetary policy, and investors believe it could trigger significant moves in the markets, according to the survey.   The central bank may begin to taper its $120 billion in emergency monthly bond purchases. Once the rollback begins, most investors (70%) expect the 10-year Treasury yield to go higher, according to the survey.   After this week's pullback, the S&P 500 is about 4.2% off its record high from early September. The benchmark is still up about 16% this year following eight consecutive months of gains. Many believe the market is experiencing seasonal weakness in a historically choppy month of September.   "There seems to be a change in market sentiment over the past couple of weeks that favors the bears," said Brian Price, head of investment management at Commonwealth Financial Network. "After a relatively quiet summer where the path of least resistance for equities was steadily higher it seems as though market participants are looking to fade this year's rally." -Yun Li and Patricia Martell Read the full story here Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy © 2021 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS