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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - PAPee Don't Talk Cock, publish the FACTs</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>Fkapore <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>3:06 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 4) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>27918.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Dr Tony Tan: GIC in “good shape”
January 30, 2010 by admin
Filed under Headlines
Leave a comment from Temasek Review
Written by Our Correspondent
Dr Tony Tan, the Deputy Chairman of Singapore’s giant sovereign wealth fund Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) has reassured Singaporeans that it is in “good shape” following some concerns and disquiet on the ground over the losses it incurred in its overseas investments lately.
Speaking to the Straits Times at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Dr Tan said GIC’s move to cut its equity holdings before the 2008 crash and being buying stocks early last year is “paying off”.
“We did an assessment in 2007 when markets were over-exuberant. We de-risked the portfolio, selling part of our equities. ‘We held it in cash throughout 2008 and in the early part of 2009, restored our equity values. At the present time,’we are in good shape and we are fairly liquid,” he said without elaborating more on it.
A Wall Street Journal article published in September last year reported that GIC may have suffered a loss around 59 billion Singapore dollars (US$41.6 billion) in the fiscal year ended March. (read article here)
A proportion of the losses come from its investments in UBS and Citigroup, made at the height of the crisis.
Dr Tan said GIC had confidence in the long-term prospects of the two banks and would continue to hold them.
“We monitor them,” he said, when asked about the huge losses reported by Citigroup in its latest quarterly statement.
UBS plunged into more trouble with the U.S. government when the Swiss government backed off an agreement with the United States that required it to hand over the names of wealthy American clients of the Swiss bank UBS who were suspected of tax evasion this Wedesday.
There is a likelihood that UBS will be indicted again by the U.S. Justice Department if no new agreements are reached.
GIC was also hit by potential losses of more than SGD$1 billion dollars in another failed overseas investment, this time in an upscale apartment complex in New York – Stuyvesant Town. (read article here)
The loss was initially not reported in the mainstream media till the Temasek Review published an article on it.
Founded in 1981 to manage Singapore’s budget surpluses accumulated over the years, it has been headed ever since by Singapore’s strongman Lee Kuan Yew, who is by a lawyer by training.
His daughter-in-law Ho Ching heads Singapore’s other sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings.
Both funds have come under intense public scrutiny and criticism in the last two years over their investment losses which amount to billions of dollars.
Though Singapore is the second richest nation in Asia after Japan and its sovereign wealth funds can afford to lose billions of dollars overseas, Singapore citizens enjoy few social welfare benefits from their government.
There is no opposition in Parliament to check on the all-powerful ruling party which continues to dominate and control every aspect of life in Singapore.
Respected international NGO Human Rights Watch described Singapore as a “textbook example of a politically repressive state” while U.S.-based Freedom House reported that “Singaporeans are unable to change their government” under the present electoral system.
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January 30, 2010 by admin
Filed under Headlines
Leave a comment from Temasek Review
Written by Our Correspondent
Dr Tony Tan, the Deputy Chairman of Singapore’s giant sovereign wealth fund Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) has reassured Singaporeans that it is in “good shape” following some concerns and disquiet on the ground over the losses it incurred in its overseas investments lately.
Speaking to the Straits Times at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Dr Tan said GIC’s move to cut its equity holdings before the 2008 crash and being buying stocks early last year is “paying off”.
“We did an assessment in 2007 when markets were over-exuberant. We de-risked the portfolio, selling part of our equities. ‘We held it in cash throughout 2008 and in the early part of 2009, restored our equity values. At the present time,’we are in good shape and we are fairly liquid,” he said without elaborating more on it.
A Wall Street Journal article published in September last year reported that GIC may have suffered a loss around 59 billion Singapore dollars (US$41.6 billion) in the fiscal year ended March. (read article here)
A proportion of the losses come from its investments in UBS and Citigroup, made at the height of the crisis.
Dr Tan said GIC had confidence in the long-term prospects of the two banks and would continue to hold them.
“We monitor them,” he said, when asked about the huge losses reported by Citigroup in its latest quarterly statement.
UBS plunged into more trouble with the U.S. government when the Swiss government backed off an agreement with the United States that required it to hand over the names of wealthy American clients of the Swiss bank UBS who were suspected of tax evasion this Wedesday.
There is a likelihood that UBS will be indicted again by the U.S. Justice Department if no new agreements are reached.
GIC was also hit by potential losses of more than SGD$1 billion dollars in another failed overseas investment, this time in an upscale apartment complex in New York – Stuyvesant Town. (read article here)
The loss was initially not reported in the mainstream media till the Temasek Review published an article on it.
Founded in 1981 to manage Singapore’s budget surpluses accumulated over the years, it has been headed ever since by Singapore’s strongman Lee Kuan Yew, who is by a lawyer by training.
His daughter-in-law Ho Ching heads Singapore’s other sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings.
Both funds have come under intense public scrutiny and criticism in the last two years over their investment losses which amount to billions of dollars.
Though Singapore is the second richest nation in Asia after Japan and its sovereign wealth funds can afford to lose billions of dollars overseas, Singapore citizens enjoy few social welfare benefits from their government.
There is no opposition in Parliament to check on the all-powerful ruling party which continues to dominate and control every aspect of life in Singapore.
Respected international NGO Human Rights Watch described Singapore as a “textbook example of a politically repressive state” while U.S.-based Freedom House reported that “Singaporeans are unable to change their government” under the present electoral system.
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