Singapore’s GIC appoints Lim Chow Kiat CEO in leadership shift

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivers his speech at the official opening of the inaugural Singapore International Cyber Week 2016 in Singapore on October 10, 2016. Lee on October 10 launched Singapore's Cybersecurity Strategy which outlines how Singapore will continue to strengthen the resilience of the country's cybersecurity. / AFP PHOTO / ROSLAN RAHMAN

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte has appointed Lim Chow Kiat as chief executive officer as part of a leadership transition that includes new roles for several managers.

Lim, 46, will assume the newly created CEO role effective Jan 1 and Jeffrey Jaensubhakij, 50, will replace him as group chief investment officer, GIC said in an e-mailed statement. Lim Siong Guan, 69, will retire as group president and be appointed adviser to the GIC group executive committee.

“As group president since 2007, Mr Lim has made enormous contributions to GIC,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, chairman of GIC, said in the statement. “He groomed a new generation of professional leaders, built up a fit and flexible organisational structure, and imbued the GIC team with sound values and ideals. Mr Lim’s time at GIC coincided with an extremely challenging period for global markets.”

The leadership changes come as GIC has warned that record-low interest rates and feeble global growth will weigh on investment returns in the coming decade. 

The sovereign wealth fund in July said a key measure of returns fell to 4% in the 20-year period to March 31, from 4.9% in the period ended March 2015, as global stock markets posted lackluster performance and bond returns tumbled.

GIC earlier this year elevated key members that were given new roles on Monday, including Jaensubhakij. The role of deputy group CIO will be shared by Tay Lim Hock and Lim Kee Chong, who will also take on concurrent leadership roles in London and New York, respectively. Goh Kok Huat will continue as chief operating officer, with a concurrent role as adviser of real estate.

The responsibilities of Jaensubhakij, Tay and Goh will be taken over by five executives who had been appointed chief investment officers in their areas on June 1, GIC said in the statement.

GIC doesn’t disclose the size of its assets under management, saying only that it manages “well over” US$100bil. The London-based Sovereign Wealth Center puts its total holdings at US$354bil, making it the world’s sixth-biggest state fund. - Bloomberg