Investors Are Most Bearish Since Financial Crisis, BCG Says

(Bloomberg) -- Portfolio managers have turned the most bearish in their outlooks since the global financial crisis, amid signs that the eight-year stock rally could be nearing an end.

Almost half of managers surveyed said they were pessimistic about equity markets for the next year, according to a report from Boston Consulting Group. Investors cited stretched stock s and rising interest rates as well as U.S. political and geopolitical risks. Eighty percent predicted a recession would start in the next three years.

Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have both warned that returns may suffer in 2018 after years of rising s. The S&P 500 Index has soared 19 percent this year, buoyed by low volatility and interest rates. BCG surveyed 250 investors managing a combined $500 billion in assets from late October to early November.

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