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cailianshe reported on september 18 (editor liu rui) at the milken institute 2024 asia summit in singapore on wednesday, ray dalio, founder of the world's largest hedge fund bridgewater associates, and lim chow kiat, ceo of singapore's sovereign wealth fund gic, said they are increasingly cautious about the year ahead due to uncertainties in global geopolitical risks and growth prospects.

however, both investment giants said they remain committed to investing in china despite possible challenges such as geopolitical tensions.

dalio cautious on global outlook

dalio said geopolitical issues, the costs of climate change and its impact on financial markets are all factors that could pose negative risks to global investors in the coming year:

“the unexpected factor is more likely to be negative than positive.”

dalio said that despite many positive factors in the united states, there are still risks when it comes to an orderly transition of power:

“there are irreconcilable divisions between the left and the right, driven by huge gaps in wealth and values… they call into question even the orderly transition of power.”

as the federal reserve is set to cut interest rates tonight, dalio expressed concerns about how the u.s. is managing its debt as uncertainty remains about what the fed will do this week:

"the fed is going to move interest rates, what's the impact of this whole dynamic? what about all the debt? how is this going to be handled?"

and when it comes to china, he said: "we will always have a small part of our portfolio in china, and we will stay in china throughout the whole process."

he believes that china remains "a very attractive place for prices." however, the scale and structure of investment deserve more consideration.

asset allocation will be more selective

lim chow kiat, chief executive of singapore's government investment corporation, said that given the heightened uncertainty in the global outlook, they must be more selective in looking for investment opportunities rather than making large-scale allocations to large markets.

speaking of the united states, which is the largest single country in gic’s portfolio and currently accounts for 39% of its holdings, lin said it would remain a key market for gic regardless of the outcome of the upcoming election.

lin said the united states has a large private sector and "many high-quality assets for us to invest in." but he also warned:

"(the market) has priced in a soft landing, which is good, and it has also priced in a lot of growth in the tech sector, so to some extent we will be more cautious."

lin zhaojie also said that gic will continue to invest in china:

“as the world’s second largest economy with so many great entrepreneurs, this is a place we can’t miss.”