NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Hedge funds are about halfway done selling securities to reduce their use of borrowed money and may unload $200 billion more to complete the process, according to managers surveyed by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

The survey found that 63 percent of hedge-fund managers said the sale of assets to cut leverage was at least half completed. Twenty-three percent said the process was three-quarters finished, New York-based Bernstein said.

Hedge funds, which borrow money in an effort to increase trading profits, have been forced to unload assets to meet client withdrawals and tighter lending requirements. That has amplified losses in the stock and bond markets. "We estimate that roughly $200 billion will be additionally unwound," Adam Parker, an analyst at Bernstein wrote in a November 21 report to clients. The survey was based on interviews in the first two weeks of November with managers of more than 65 hedge funds overseeing a combined $100 billion.

The amount of gross leverage used by hedge funds fell to 142 percent of assets from 175 percent in 2006 and 2007, the report said.