Druckenmiller says aging to be ‘massive problem’ in 15 years

May 14, 2015 at 05:42 AM
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(Bloomberg) — Billionaire investor Stan Druckenmiller said an aging population will present a "massive, massive problem" in 15 years.

"The young people are not going to be talking about cutting back," Druckenmiller said at a New York event hosted by Addepar, a technology company that provides software to financial advisers, fund managers and family offices. "There will be nothing to cut back."

Druckenmiller, 61, has argued for several years that the mushrooming costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will bankrupt the nation's youth and eventually result in a crisis worse than the financial meltdown of 2008. The government will have to reduce payments to the elderly, he said at the event.

A former chief strategist for George Soros, Druckenmiller shut his hedge fund firm Duquesne Capital Management in 2010 and now manages his own fortune. From its inception in 1986, Duquesne produced average annual returns of 30 percent, one of the best track records in the industry.

'Go young'

Commenting on the markets, Druckenmiller said that interest rates could "arguably" stay near zero for 10 years. He said last month in a Bloomberg Television interview that he was afraid the Federal Reserve wouldn't raise interest rates this year.

The investor also said he shies away from established money managers, particularly those who oversee more than $10 billion. Assets exceeding that amount tend to become "a problem" for the managers, he said.

"Go young," he advised the audience, saying that the best money managers are between 35 and 40 years old.

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