SINGAPORE, June 9 (Reuters) - Fund manager BlackRock (BLK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) expects the global credit crisis to last another two to four years as a weakening U.S. economy triggers more writedowns by banks, its chief investment officer for equities said on Monday. "The credit crisis will be with us for a long time," said Bob Doll, CIO and also vice chairman of the U.S. money manager, which managed $1.36 trillion in assets at the end of March. "The deleveraging of the financial system, which is the outgrowth of the credit crunch, will likely last a couple of more years -- two, three, four." Financial institutions around the globe such Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) have suffered more than $300 billion of write-downs and credit losses during a credit crisis triggered by the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market. Doll said Blackrock is underweight on financials, but overweight on U.S. stocks since some large multinationals such as technology firms are benefitting from growth outside the United States and from a weaker U.S. dollar. He said the worst of the crisis has passed after the Federal Reserve-led rescue of Bear Stearns (BSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) in March, but he warned an economic slowdown in the U.S. threatens more credit-related problems in the months and years ahead. "We've seen the worst of it in terms of crisis, writeoffs, but there is still more to come," Doll told a group of reporters during a visit to Singapore. More: http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINSP5761720080609?rpc=44
2 - 4 years? He just pulled that number out of thin air. Heres my prediction, the credit crisis will last somewhere between 6 months and 6 years.