The vast majority of chief executives of major U.S. corporations are against Donald Trump , said Roger Altman, deputy treasury secretary during the Bill Clinton presidency.

"There are a group of people on ... [Hillary] Clinton's behalf who have been recruiting business leaders to support her," Altman told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday. The CEOs approached are "overwhelmingly anti-Trump," added the founder of investment banking advisory firm Evercore Partners (EVR).

But in the wake of last week's Republican convention and continued damage to Hillary Clinton 's reputation from the latest email scandal, just 52 percent of Wall Street respondents to the July CNBC Fed Survey see the Democratic nominee prevailing in November, a sharp drop from 80 percent in the April and June surveys.

Altman said it all comes down to the economy. "You start with the economic record of both President [Bill] Clinton and President Obama — and you contrast that to records of recent Republican presidents — it's just a historical fact that they're records were strong records."

Critics of Obama and by extension Clinton's Democratic bid for the White House would point to the 2008 financial crisis as a factor skewing a direct economic-record comparison.

Mark Gallogly, a member of both Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board and Jobs Council, agreed with Altman. "Businesses have historically gotten along well with Hillary Clinton; and can make things work with her."

The co-founder of investment group Centerbridge also said in a separate "Squawk Box" interview that Clinton would bring stability to financial markets. "From an investor's point of view. whether you're on Main Street or Wall Street, there's no doubt that the country and the world doesn't need more risk."

"She's a proven person who does her homework, knows what she's talking about, is prepared. And I think she's someone who listens well," said Gallogly. "I think that's an important difference between her and her opponent."

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