In a survey of 160 institutional investors, 85% of those surveyed expect that the market will bottom out before the end of the first half of 2010, with the majority of those expecting the bottom in the second half of 2009. The survey, reaching investors in 20 countries, was conducted by TheMarkets.com, a provider of research, estimates and workflow solutions to institutional investors worldwide.

The results of the survey also indicated that investors expect a slow recovery of the S&P 500 to pre-recession levels. Over 80% of investors do not expect the S&P 500 to return to 1200 until 2012, and over 40% of investors do not think it will return to 1500 until after 2013. The results showed that while traditional asset managers expect the market to bottom sooner than do their hedge fund counterparts, they see the recovery taking longer. Additionally, U.S.-based respondents were slightly more pessimistic about the timeframe of recovery than those based outside of the U.S.; both groups had similar expectations about market bottom.

"We also saw that, across the board, the sectors that investors expect to receive the most focus over the next twelve months are financials, energy and healthcare," said David Eisner, CEO and President of TheMarkets.com. "What's interesting is that we're seeing a direct tie between investor focus and governmental focus. In addition to looking to sectors where we typically see early signs of a turnaround, such as consumer cyclicals or transportation, investors are honing in on the areas where expected legislation stands to have the greatest impact."