Singapore's wealth fund bulked up with a politician and a prominent financier in the city-state. The move is an attempt to replenish the sovereign wealth fund with fresh blood.
The Government of Singapore Investment Corp., or GIC, said on Thursday that it will add two new directors – one from the private sector and one civil servant – to its board, bringing the total including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to 18 members.
The GIC said Seck Wai Kwong (pictured above), who is head of State Street in Asia, will join from November 9, and that Lawrence Wong, deputy finance minister, will join from Thursday. Both are deeply entrenched in Singapore, Inc. – or Singaporeans with extensive government experience.
Career Politician
Before joining Boston, U.S.-based State Street, Seck was finance chief at Singapore's stock exchange and worked at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Lehman Brothers and DBS. He also worked for the GIC for nearly ten years until 1995, in Singapore and New York.
Currently minister of national development, the 45-year-old Wong (pictured, left) is a career politician who entered government four years ago. He also spent three years as the private secretary to PM Loong. Wong has sat on a GIC investment strategy committee since last year. The GIC's CEO, Lim Chow Kiat, highlighted Wong's background in trade, economics and finance as well as Seck's experience with global investment markets, finance, and asset management.
Rejigged Investments
The appointment of Wong in particular can be viewed as an attempt to rejuvenate the GIC's top ranks. Of its 18 directors, six including Loong and deputy PM Tharman Shanmugaratnam are above the age of 60.
Last year, the GIC appointed a new CEO (Lim) and a new investment chief, Jeffrey Jaensubhakij. The fund was in on Ant Financial's $14 billion fundraising earlier this year as well as the $55 billion sale of Thomson Reuters' financial and risk unit to private equity house Blackstone. Last year, the fund made a splash by selling down a major part of its crisis-era stake in Swiss bank UBS.
