Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio said Thursday that his firm is invested in the stock market but cautious on bonds.

In an interview on Bloomberg Radio, the hedge fund manager was asked if he is predicting a bear market.

“No. We’ve been long equity markets,” Dalio said.

The investor did note risks are rising as central banks move away from easy monetary policies to the point where they are going to hike interest rates.

“From 2008 until 2017 we were in a certain type of environment,” he said. “We are now in a transition, a whole new different environment. That’s the equivalent of entering the late stage of the cycle. That’s when there is a tightening. Tightenings become progressively more concerning. … It looks to me there is a significant amount of risk in the bond market.”

Dalio also explained why the Republican tax reform plan is negative for bond prices.

“There is going to be probably a larger deficit” as a result of tax reform, he added. “That means more selling of bonds.”

The hedge fund manager’s view is similar to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s position that the Republican tax reform plan will add to the deficit.

Schumer directly attacked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for his claims the tax reform proposal would reduce the country’s budget deficit.

“I don’t know if the man’s deliberately lying, but it seems so,” Schumer said in a “Politico Money” podcast interview.

Bridgewater is the world’s largest hedge fund, managing about $160 billion, according to its website.

Source: Investment Cnbc
Bridgewater's Ray Dalio still long on stocks, and sees 'significant' risk in bonds