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- Hedge-fund billionaire Ray Dalio said Wuhan coronavirus has had an outsized impact on markets and will blow over soon.
- The Bridgewater Associates boss argued the flu-like illness "probably had a bit of an exaggerated effect," Bloomberg reported.
- Dalio said he was more worried about political and wealth inequalities.
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Hedge-fund billionaire Ray Dalio said investors have overreacted to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, and markets will recover soon.
The fast-spreading epidemic "probably had a bit of an exaggerated effect on the pricing of assets because of the temporary nature of that," Dalio said at a conference in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. "I would expect more of a rebound."
Dalio - the boss of Bridgewater Associates, the world's biggest hedge fund - doesn't expect the flu-like illness to live long in the memory.
"It most likely will be something that in another year or two will be well beyond what everyone will be talking about," he told the audience, Bloomberg said.
Wuhan coronavirus has infected around 42,000 people, killed more than 1,000, and spread to upwards of 20 countries. It has disrupted Chinese manufacturing and commerce, and threatens to slash the growth rate of the world's second-largest economy this year. The outbreak has also forced US companies including Apple, Disney, and Starbucks to temporarily shut some or all of their operations in the region.
However, Dalio argued that investors should worry more about political and wealth inequalities, emerging technologies, environmental challenges, and the growing competitive threat from China.
"Each one will interact," he said, according to Bloomberg. "What concerns me most if you did have a downturn ... the wealth gap and the political gap, I would be more concerned about that."
