Ray Dalio warns of major disruption, offers advice for new investors

US billionaire Ray Dalio says new investors should have a diversified portfolio as economic and geopolitical headwinds persist.

“I would like to have diversification, because what I don’t know is going to be much greater than what I know,” said Dalio, founder of one of the world’s largest hedge funds, Bridgewater Associates.

“Diversification can reduce your risks without reducing them sharply, if you know how to do it well,” he said at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore last week.

He explained: “Pay attention to the repercussions of the great disruptions that will occur because the world will be radically different in five years. It will become radically different year after year.”

The development of artificial intelligence has caught the attention of hedge fund managers as well, but Dalio said he recommends investors put money into companies that embrace this new technology, rather than companies that make it.

“It’s like going through a time warp,” Dalio said. “We’ll be in a different world. The disruptors will be disabled.” “I don’t need to choose those who invent new technologies. I really need to choose those who use new technologies in the best way possible.”

Speaking to attendees at the summit in Singapore, Dalio said the city-state was “a very special place, in a region that is going to be very exciting.”

“The global landscape is changing, the global order is changing… and with Singapore being a key hub, it’s a great place to be.”

When asked about the increasing number of family offices being set up in Singapore, Dalio shared the top three considerations one should make when choosing a country to invest in.

A country needs to have a good income statement, a good balance sheet, and an environment of civility where “people… [are] “We work together to achieve good things,” he said. He added that the side a country takes when an international conflict breaks out is also an important factor to take into consideration.

He stressed that the biggest mistake investors make is “believing that markets that have performed well are good investments and not more expensive.”