Tweet
The Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC) lost as much as $50 billion (US$33 billion) in 2008, the Wall Street Journal said, citing two people familiar with the matter.
According to Bloomberg, the WSJ report says the fund does not plan to get rid of its investments including in Citigroup and UBS AG even as asset values plummet, the newspaper said. GIC expects the two banks to provide substantial long-term returns, according to the report.
Sovereign wealth funds in Asia and the Middle East have pumped money into global financial institutions to help replenish capital eroded by writedowns and losses that have topped US$1 trillion globally. GIC, overseeing more than US$100 billion of reserves, has invested about US$18 billion in UBS and Citigroup since December 2007.
GIC’s losses are similar to those at Temasek Holdings, the city-state’s other sovereign wealth fund, according to the Journal. “GIC does not comment on speculative reports,” Singapore-based spokeswoman Jennifer Lewis said today by phone.
The value of Temasek’s portfolio shrank 31% in the eight months to Nov. 30 as the global stock-market slump eroded the value of companies from Barclays Plc to Merrill Lynch & Co., Lim Hwee Hua, senior minister of state at Singapore’s finance ministry, said on Feb 10.
Temasek’s assets were valued at $127 billion, down from $185 billion at the end of March 2008, Lim said then. The MSCI World Index declined 38% over the same period in US dollar terms. The benchmark tumbled a record 42% in 2008.
According to Bloomberg, the WSJ report says the fund does not plan to get rid of its investments including in Citigroup and UBS AG even as asset values plummet, the newspaper said. GIC expects the two banks to provide substantial long-term returns, according to the report.
Sovereign wealth funds in Asia and the Middle East have pumped money into global financial institutions to help replenish capital eroded by writedowns and losses that have topped US$1 trillion globally. GIC, overseeing more than US$100 billion of reserves, has invested about US$18 billion in UBS and Citigroup since December 2007.
GIC’s losses are similar to those at Temasek Holdings, the city-state’s other sovereign wealth fund, according to the Journal. “GIC does not comment on speculative reports,” Singapore-based spokeswoman Jennifer Lewis said today by phone.
The value of Temasek’s portfolio shrank 31% in the eight months to Nov. 30 as the global stock-market slump eroded the value of companies from Barclays Plc to Merrill Lynch & Co., Lim Hwee Hua, senior minister of state at Singapore’s finance ministry, said on Feb 10.
Temasek’s assets were valued at $127 billion, down from $185 billion at the end of March 2008, Lim said then. The MSCI World Index declined 38% over the same period in US dollar terms. The benchmark tumbled a record 42% in 2008.
Comment