Singapore's GIC recovers after loss last fiscal year

[September 29, 2009]  SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singapore state investment company GIC said Tuesday its investments fell more than 20 percent in the 12 months ending March, but have recovered more than half that loss as global stocks surged in recent months.

Government of Singapore Investment Corp., known as GIC, said in an annual report that the loss during its last fiscal year pulled down the fund's 20-year nominal annual rate of return in Singapore dollar terms to 4.4 percent from 5.8 percent.

GIC, which manages more than $100 billion, didn't disclosed details about the size of its portfolio.

"Like many large institutional investors, GIC's portfolio had been impacted in the severe global downturn of 2008," Executive Director Tony Tan said in a statement Tuesday. "In recent months, we had recovered a good part of our losses as the markets performed better."

GIC saw large stakes in major banks such as UBS AG and Citigroup Inc. shrink in value last year as the global credit crisis decimated stock markets. However, those investments have recovered this year, and GIC said last week it cut its stake in Citigroup from 9 percent to below 5 percent, realizing a $1.6 billion profit.

Singapore's other sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings, said earlier this month that the value of its investments jumped 32 percent to $122 billion during the four months ended July 31.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.