ConvergEx Survey: Market Not “Fair For All Participants”

A 51 percent majority of the 357 respondents also think that high-frequency trading (HFT) is detrimental to the market.

"Most professional investors and institutional brokers do not feel that markets treat all participants fairly and worry about how fragile markets might become during periods of abnormally high volume," says Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group. "At the same time, they are cautiously picking their way through the minefield in which they find themselves and are unsure what role regulators should play."

Although only 19 percent believes HFT is "helpful" for the market, very few respondents have made any changes to the way they interact with the markets.

"How the landscape will change as a result of their unease is still unclear. What is certain is that change is coming," says Colas.

Regarding the regulatory landscape, slightly more than one third of respondents, or 38 percent, believes current levels of regulation are appropriate for today's market structure.