Bridgewater Associates says flagship fund will be flat on the year

The world’s largest hedge fund is proving a bit of a lightweight.

Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates has notified investors that its flagship Pure Alpha fund will be flat on the year — ending an 18-year winning streak, according to Institutional Investor.

It’s unclear what Dalio told investors in reporting the disappointing results, but flat returns could be difficult to justify in a year when the S&P 500 index returned 31.5 percent.

Dalio, famous for a “radical transparency” philosophy that critics say leads to conflict in the workplace, has been bearish on global markets in posts he’s made on his LinkedIn. Dalio was also reportedly shorting the bond market as lower yields sent bond prices soaring in the second half of 2019.

Watchers argue Dalio has been overly focused on his 2017 book, “Principles,” which he continues to promote on LinkedIn and Twitter years after launch. The 70-year-old hedge has been popping up everywhere to tout the book, including a recent video interview with rapper and entrepreneur P. Diddy.

“He apparently wasn’t paying attention to the bond market in Q3, but I bet he knew how many copies of his book were sold in August,” quipped one hedge funder to The Post. “Bridgwater is going to get hurt.”

While some of Bridgewater’s funds managed to eke out small or mediocre results for 2019, the performance of Pure Alpha will be viewed as the firm’s biggest challenge for 2020, especially as the $160 billion firm undergoes a leadership change.

Dalio tapped David McCormick to take over as CEO in early spring when longtime co-CEO Eileen Murray retires.