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"Europe is going to be the surprise for the
year," he said on CNBC.
Fink said the lower valuation of the euro has given European
companies a big competitive advantage over their U.S.-based
counterparts. That along with low oil prices and a more stable
European banking system means that European equities are poised
to outperform U.S. equities, he said.
"I like European and Asian equities more than U.S. equities," he
said.
Given the three-year run that U.S. equities have had, "it's
catch up time," he said.
Already, Fink has seen clients pouring into its European equity
funds as investors look for yield in the low interest rate
environment, he said.
Low interest rates in Europe are "truly harming" European
pension funds and insurance companies, he said.
"This is one of the areas where I don't believe that central
banks appreciate what negative rates do," he said.
Going forward, Fink believes oil prices will stay between $60 to
$80 per barrel as there continues to be more supply pressure
than demand.
Fink also discussed his recent letter to the CEOs of the 500
largest publicly listed U.S. companies urging them to resist
short-term activists.
Fink said that not all activists are short-term and noted that
BlackRock has voted with activists about 55 percent of the time.
(Reporting By Jessica Toonkel; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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