Singapore’s GIC revealed its acquisition of a 35% stake in Hotel Investment Partners (HIP) from Blackstone, bolstering its European hospitality portfolio by 72 luxury hotels. GIC is strategically poised to capitalize on the post-pandemic surge in international tourism.
Concurrently, GIC divested its 49% stake in Chatswood Chase Sydney back to Australian retail property group Vicinity.
Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is set to become the deputy chairman of GIC from 1 October, following Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s transition to Singapore’s ninth president. Additionally, Mr Wong leads the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as its chairman.
Singaporean blogger Philip Ang challenges mainstream media portrayals of GIC’s positive performance in FY2023, suggesting potential losses may have been obscured. Ang cites concerns over GIC’s unique 20-year annualised real rate of return metric and questions the fund’s vulnerability amidst global financial turmoil.
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, has reported its poorest five-year returns since 2016, underlining the economic challenges faced by institutional investors amidst global economic slowdown, rising interest rates, and geopolitical tensions.