(Bloomberg) -- Larry Fink, chief executive officer of BlackRock Inc., said the selloff by hedge funds during the fourth quarter was somewhat akin to what happened during the financial crisis.
“What we saw in the fourth quarter was huge deleveraging by hedge funds," Fink said in a CNBC interview Wednesday. It was almost like a “mini 2008-2009,” he said.
The S&P 500 Index dropped about 14 percent last quarter on concerns over rising rates and geopolitical uncertainty in the U.S. and Europe. The CEO said the stock market probably won't go lower in the short-term after the December plunge.
“In the short run we've probably hit a bottom," Fink said. It's unclear how long that will last, however, because of issues around trade, Brexit and the U.S. government shutdown.
“You're seeing the seeds of a global slowdown,” Fink said. But the CEO said he doesn't think the U.S. economy or China are headed for a recession.
To contact the reporter on this story: Vincent Bielski in New York at vbielski@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Mary Romano
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