BlackRock’s CEO warns against sitting in cash

Fink joins Bridgewater's Dalio in urging investors to stick with stocks.

The heads of the world’s biggest asset manager and largest hedge fund are anti-cash.

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock Inc., is urging investors around the world to stop keeping money in cash as stock markets reach new highs. There’s too much savings on the sidelines of financial markets in countries from the U.S. to China despite the stock market rally, Mr. Fink said Thursday at the World Economic Forum.

“We don’t talk about the pool of money that is still sitting here,” Mr. Fink said during an interview in Davos, Switzerland. “Our financial markets are up three times since the financial crisis.”

On Wednesday, money manager Ray Dalio also warned investors on holding high levels of cash. Mr. Dalio, who founded hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, said the current economic environment is good for stocks but bad for bond investors.

“It feels stupid to own cash in this kind of environment,” he said in a Bloomberg News interview in Davos. “It’s going to be great for earnings and great for stimulation of growth.”

In recent years, Mr. Fink has been talking about the record amount of cash and how investors need to be invested in stocks so they will be able to retire. As the world’s largest asset manager with more than $6 trillion in assets, BlackRock would stand to benefit if this pool of money is freed up. The money manager offers an array of fee-generating products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, private equity and hedge funds.