Lee Hsien Loong Named Chairman of GIC
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was named chairman of Government of Singapore Investment Corp., which manages more than $100 billion of the island’s assets, succeeding his father Lee Kuan Yew.
The elder Lee will be senior adviser to the sovereign wealth fund and the changes are effective June 1, according to an e-mailed statement today.
Lee, 87, and Singapore’s first prime minister, announced May 14 he would resign from the cabinet, where he held the title of minister mentor, to make way for younger leaders. The fund, the biggest investor in companies including Citigroup Inc. (C) and UBS AG, seeks to boost assets to tackle future crises and meet the country’s long-term spending needs. GIC is ranked the world’s eighth-largest state investment company by Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.
GIC had average annual returns similar to a 10.2 percent rise in equities since its 1981 inception, said the elder Lee at the fund’s 30th anniversary celebration on May 10. GIC will capitalize on its global reach, multiasset class and long-term perspective to produce good returns, he said.
Prime Minister Lee’s ruling People’s Action Party won the general election with the smallest margin of popular votes since independence. The party that has ruled Singapore for more than five decades won 81 out of 87 parliamentary seats and 60.1 percent of the popular vote. The district held by the elder Lee was the only one that went uncontested by the opposition, meaning he retains his seat in parliament until the next election that must be held within five years.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lars Klemming in Singapore at lklemming@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lars Klemming at lklemming@bloomberg.net
Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg
Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's prime minister and deputy chairman of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp.
Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's prime minister and deputy chairman of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. Photographer: Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg
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