The U.S. is likely headed toward a recession but there's a chance for the downturn to be comparatively mild due to strong underlying fundamentals, according to Pimco bond expert Dan Ivascyn. While he said he still sees a retrenchment coming, he expects strength from consumer and business balance sheets to offset the damage. Our thinking is that it will potentially be a fairly mild recession," Ivascyn told CNBC's Leslie Picker. "One of the reasons why we feel that way is that initial conditions, you know, look look pretty good as the consumer balance sheet [is] quite strong, corporate balance sheets in most areas of the credit markets are quite strong." "All areas that tend to be weak links in recessionary environments have pretty strong fundamentals," he added.

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