Obama has struggled this year to raise cash from the financial industry, his campaign's biggest backer in 2008. He raised $1.6 million through Sept. 30 from securities and investment industry employees and their families. By comparison, Romney has brought in $3.6 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group that tracks political giving. Four years ago, Obama raised $16 million from Wall Street.

Sitting Out

One of Obama's biggest Wall Street fundraisers in 2008, David Heller, the co-head of securities sales and trading at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., is not raising money for the president this cycle, according to a person familiar with Heller's plans. The person requested anonymity to discuss the challenges Obama faces raising money on Wall Street.

At least 100 former Obama contributors, mostly investors, have given to Romney's 2012 campaign, according to a Bloomberg analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

With the unemployment rate stuck at 9 percent and growth still sluggish after the worst recession in seven decades, the question of who can best manage the recovery will be central in the general election. The Standard & Poor's 500 Financials Index has tumbled 13 percent in November to lead the S&P 500's 7.6 percent slide.

Campaign Response

An Obama campaign official indicated that Wall Street's cooling on Obama will be a point of populist appeal, highlighting the president's support for tougher regulations on financial institutions while casting Romney as the candidate who would protect banks over consumers.

"It's no surprise that Mitt Romney, who has made letting Wall Street write its own rules again the first tenet of his economic platform, is attracting the support of others who disagree," said Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt.

While not confirming Schwarzman's endorsement, a representative of Romney's campaign said Obama's policies are driving supporters to the Republican candidate.

"To the extent anyone is supporting Mitt Romney over President Obama it is because of the state of the economy and the president's failure to create jobs," Andrea Saul, a campaign spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.