NEW YORK - Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC must grasp new opportunities in a changing world of stubbornly high interest rates and sharp-edged geopolitics, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong after attending the fund’s closed-door meetings.
“We are in a different world – where interest rates are likely to be higher for longer, where we are moving from benign globalisation to great power competition,” he said on Monday in New York, as he opened the first in-person GIC Investment Forum since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Wong took over as GIC deputy chairman on Oct 1.
The fund, which manages Singapore’s foreign exchange reserves, is one of the world’s largest institutional investors.
“Glad to come together with the GIC management team and our advisers, to consider how we should better position our portfolio to navigate the challenges and seize new opportunities in this rapidly changing environment,” he said in social media posts after attending the forum meeting during his Oct 5-15 working visit to the United States.
Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies Heng Swee Keat, who is making a working visit to New York and Boston this week from Sunday to Friday, also attended the event.
“We had insightful sessions with leading members of the investment community, who shared valuable perspectives on the macroeconomic and geopolitical outlook, as well as opportunities in the infrastructure and sustainability space,” he said in a social media post.
“A firm grasp of the risks and opportunities in today’s volatile global environment will better enable GIC to further the mission of safeguarding Singapore’s financial future,” he added.
In July, GIC reported its highest 20-year real return in eight years, despite market uncertainties and high inflation.
This rate of return – which accounts for inflation and spans the 20-year period from April 2003 to March 2023 – stood at 4.6 per cent for the period that ended on March 31, 2023.
This was up from 4.2 per cent a year earlier, and is its highest level since 2015.
By geography, the United States continues to make up the bulk of GIC’s portfolio at 38 per cent.
The fund is focused on investments providing stable long-term returns such as real estate and infrastructure, even as it moves to tap new opportunities in the sustainability field.
Mr Wong’s itinerary in New York on Tuesday includes launching a new Enterprise Singapore node to support the expansion of Singapore start-ups in the US market.
His next stop is Washington, where he will meet Cabinet secretaries and top US officials, and address the inaugural US-Singapore dialogue on critical and emerging technologies.
Mr Heng’s visit includes meetings with senior business leaders and leading research institutions in the US. He will also meet Singaporeans in the Boston area.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.