It came as a surprise to learn
that the Singapore Government Investment Corporation does not
manage the C.P.F money that is collected from the Singaporean work
force.
From a South China Post Report of 6 June 2001,
[Quote]:
Senior Minister Lee was at pains to stress that
GIC fund managers did not manage
CPF funds. That surprised academics in the field,
who have long assumed CPF funds and fiscal reserves are essentially
interchangeable because both are invested in government-linked
companies and schemes.
[Unquote]
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw01/010606sc.htm
In another report in Agence France
Presse of 22 May 2001, both DPM and SM were recorded defending the
Government's position in employing high paying staff and confirming
that G.I.C funds are placed in safe investments by a team of well
paid local and foreign staffs:
[Quote]:
In a speech May 22 at the opening of the new GIC headquarters, the
deputy premier said the corporation was among the 100 largest fund
management companies in the world and 40 percent of the staff
handling the secret reserves were foreigners.
"It will never have enough talented Singaporeans to meet GIC's
needs. For the best possible performance, GIC must assemble the
strongest international team it can find," he said.
"Non-Singaporeans and Singaporeans alike are recruited, evaluated
and compensated competitively based purely on performance. "
Lee Kuan Yew defended the salaries paid to fund managers,
which can include bonuses of up to five
million US dollars, saying they were "worth every dollar
that we pay them."
The fund managers were being paid on a par with Singapore's top
companies, aside from an annual bonus based on performance and
long-term incentives such as stock options.
"If you don't pay such officers, you won't get them. They are
precious commodity," he said.
About half of the funds managed by GIC have been invested in North
America, about a quarter in Europe and the balance spread over
Japan and emerging markets.
"We go in for safe
investments," he said, adding that emerging markets
might offer higher rewards but also greater risks.
[Unquote]
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw01/010522a1.htm
In another research made by Asia
Times published on 19 July 2001, the following information is
enlightening when we have little information from the Singapore
Government:
[Quote]:
The GIC was set up in 1981 to manage the country's foreign reserves
which are said to exceed S$181 billion (US$100 billion) July 19 -
one of the highest in the world - thanks to the country's high savings rates. It is a
private limited company (PLC), wholly owned by the government, and
comes under the purview of the Ministry of
Finance.].
But it is no ordinary PLC. The
law [color=red]exempts it from filing balance sheets,
profit-and-loss statements, publish annual reports or report to
parliament[/color]. It is only accountable to the
accountant-general, auditor-general and the president, to
whom it submits its financial statements and proposed budgets.
The special PLC is chaired by
the elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew, while his son, the deputy
premier, Lee Hsien Loong, is the
second-in-charge.
[Unquote]
[Quote]:
The GIC invests half of its funds in global equities, 30 percent in
bonds, 10 percent in real estate, 5 percent in venture capital
funds and 5 percent in cash instruments.
The GIC claims its funds not only outperform global benchmarks such as the
Morgan Stanley Capital World Equities Index, but its real
rate of return always exceeds the G3's (US, Japan
and Germany) average
inflation rate of 5 percent. But this still
begs the question, why does it refuse to disclose its returns if
the performance is so spectacular?
[Unquote]
[Quote]:
The GIC was said to be one of the single largest creditors of
China's Guangdong International Trust & Investment Corporation
(GITIC) and it lost about S$200 million when GITIC
collapsed in 1999 with about US$3 billion of debt. In
1996, a GIC officer was involved in a scandal for accepting S$2.4
million in bribes offered by a US fund manager to buy shares in
various public-listed companies, although he was later acquitted on
appeal. The GIC was also rumored to be involved in tie-ups
with hedge-fund manager Long-Term Capital Management before its
collapse in late 1998.
The GIC's discretion might be for political purposes. It
is, after all, one of the region's largest property owners with
assets including the AT&T Corporate Center in Chicago, 70
Grosvenor Street in London, the Grand Millennium Plaza in Hong Kong
and the International Broadcast Center in Sydney - home of the
Sydney Olympics. GIC Real Estate - the company's
property-investment arm - is said to have invested in 120
properties in more than 25 countries worldwide. But the
total asset value has not been revealed.
The GIC might be inviting political resistance if it bangs the gong
every time a deal is sealed. Not least in neighboring Malaysia
where it is said to own M$870 million (US$230 million) worth of
listed assets and properties. This is despite its recent disposal
of stakes in Malaysia Pacific Industries (MPI) - part of the Hong
Leong Industries, and Mesiniaga - the distributor of IBM products
in the country. Its largest investment in Malaysia is
believed to be the 362 million ringgit stake in Sunway City, a
popular theme park and shopping mall located on the outskirts of
the capital Kuala Lumpur.
The GIC is also reported to have stakes in at least another
11 companies listed on the KLSE, including KFC Holdings Malaysia,
Star Publications, the New Straits Times Press, Tanjong, Resorts
World, Berjaya Sports Toto, Public Bank and AMMB Holdings.
Have you noticed the common threads in these investments? The
hiccups in Malaysia-Singapore bilateral relations have been largely
over some trivial matters or sibling rivalries - except the touchy
racial issue. It is no wonder that expansion of Singapore's
business empire into these Chinese-owned companies in Malaysia has
gone largely unnoticed.
The GIC is also one of Asia's largest private equity investors,
with an estimated S$9.1 billion-S$18.2 billion invested in 150
private equity funds worldwide, reports the Straits Times
[Unquote]
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw01/010719at.htm
If the CPF money collected each month
from a working population of more then 2.5 million Singaporeans are
not managed by G.I.C, then a pertinent question need to be asked as
to which Government Agency is responsible for putting the CPF money
to good use ?
If the supposedly safe investments of Singapore Reserves are so
well managed by highly paid, capable, and experienced Fund Managers
- both Singaporeans and Foreigners, will it not be logical to place
CPF funds with the same group of Fund Managers ?
If the professional Fund Managers can outperform the G3 inflation
rate of 5% per annum, will this not allow the CPF account holders
to receive a better interest return on CPF savings than what is
currently paid at less then 2% per annum ?