NEW YORK, March 11 (Reuters) - Global hedge funds

accelerated the unwinding of stock positions on Monday, and this

trend is likely to continue, as portfolio managers seek to

reduce risk amid a selloff in U.S. stocks, according to Goldman

Sachs.

"Through yesterday, our best guess is that we are currently

in the middle innings of this (de-risking) episode," said

Goldman Sachs Vice President Vincent Lin, although he pointed

out determining a de-risking duration is difficult.

Portfolio managers usually try to minimize their losses by

unwinding trades over an extended period amid a selloff. It's a

way to avoid flooding the market with mammoth blocks of stocks,

a move that could help move stock prices further down.

The prolonged de-risking means it could take a while for

stocks to recover.

The unwinding on Friday and Monday represented the largest

two-day deleveraging in four years, with industrials leading the

pack, Goldman Sachs said in a separate note, adding that the

exit from industrials was at a record high.

The bank said that the de-risking had accelerated from

Friday, a trend it had previously compared with some early COVID

pandemic unwinding.

Hedge funds cut their equity exposure on Monday as a steep

selloff drove the S&P 500 index to its biggest one-day

drop since December 18 and the Nasdaq Composite Index

plunged 4% on fears of a recession triggered by U.S. President

Donald Trump's tariffs on imports.

Tariffs have spooked investors, with fears of an economic

downturn sparking a selloff in equities that has wiped out

roughly $4 trillion from the S&P 500's peak last month.

Goldman Sachs said portfolio managers ditched both long and

short bets on specific stocks on Monday.

Hedge funds' risk-shedding strategy seems to be paying off.

Fundamental long/short, systematic and multi-strategy hedge

funds posted positive returns on Tuesday, the bank said.