President Donald Trump has drawn a rosy picture of the United States economy in recent months, but investor and hedge funder Ray Dalio isn’t buying it.
On Monday, Dalio wrote in a LinkedIn post that recent economic figures mask deep divisions in wealth and political leaning. This threatens the balance of the U.S. economy, he added, and it doesn’t look like those divides are going away—at least for now. Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds.
“Conflicts have now intensified to the point that fighting to the death is probably more likely than reconciliation,” Dalio wrote. He added how the country manages conflict “will have a greater effect on the economy, markets and our overall well-being than classic monetary and fiscal policies.”
As a result, Dalio has positioned his own portfolio in preparation of worsening conflicts, he wrote.
The note comes a week after Trump said that “both sides” were responsible for the violence in Charlottesville, Va. In that incident, a car plowed into counter-protestors at a white supremacist rally, killing one and injuring several others. Several CEOs condemned Trump for failing to hold the “alt-right” responsible in the incident.
That same week, turmoil in the White House resulted in advisor Steve Bannon‘s departure. And before that, investors were rattled Trump’s back-and-forth with North Korea over its nuclear missile testing.
Dalio isn’t the only one urging caution when it comes to Washington: The S&P 500 Index has edged down about 1% since the start of August, while gold, a so-called safe haven asset, has risen nearly 1%.
