Record 49% of hedge funds holding $386B USD have negative US outlook - why such a big sentiment disparity between institutions vs. retail?

Data is from Bank of America and analysis from Axios. They surveyed 164 hedge fund managers that manage a total combined $386B USD - and it seems like their outlook is risk-averse and pessimistic, and they are flocking to safe assets like gold and leaving behind US equities like Mag 7.

Why is there such a big difference between institutional and retail investor sentiment? Is this just a matter of companies needing to take more risk-averse approaches to meet business objectives? Or is it that retail trading is more about DCA vs. institutional timing?

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Key figures that were mentioned that show institutions are hesitant

"82% of respondents said the global economy is set to weaken, which is a 30-year high."

"49% of them said a hard landing is now the most likely outcome for the global economy, up significantly from 6% in February and 11% in March.

"The percentage of investors who intend to cut their allocation to U.S. equities rose to the highest level since the survey began in 2001."

"The Bank of America fund manager sentiment index is now lower than it was even during the depths of the pandemic crash in 2020."

"For the first time in over two years, the most crowded trade is no longer being long the "Magnificent 7" tech stocks. Instead, it's being long gold."

[https://www.axios.com/2025/04/17/trump-tariffs-global-fund-managers](https://www.axios.com/2025/04/17/trump-tariffs-global-fund-managers)