BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink said the global economic outlook looks positive despite U.S. political dysfunction.

Speaking at the New York Times DealBook conference, Fink said he has been surprised by the strength of U.S. corporate profits.

S&P 500 profits in the third quarter rose 7.9 percent year-on-year, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S estimates.

"We have a very strong global economy," Fink said, noting that growth has been more synchronized across major global economies than it has been in a decade.

BlackRock manages nearly $6 trillion in assets.

Fink said he expects $2 trillion to $5 trillion more to move into the "passive" index-tracking funds for which the company is known as a result of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, or MIFID II, in the European Union and the "fiduciary rule" in the United States.

Each regulation is aimed at undermining conflicts of interest in financial advice and fund management, but companies have warned that each may generate unintended consequences as they are implemented.