The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) has promoted Lim Chow Kiat as president for Europe and Anthony Lim Weng Kin as president for the Americas.
Their aim is to develop contacts with policy makers and leaders in the financial, governmental and non-governmental circles. “The appointments come at a time when critical changes will be made to the global financial system and there is a need for GIC to not only gather but also contribute deeper insights into investment opportunities and challenges in the coming years,” GIC said in a statement.
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The two regional presidents will outrank the heads of the three GIC investment divisions – GIC Asset Management, GIC Real Estate and GIC Special Investments – in their respective geographies.
Lim Chow Kiat will be based in London and will cover Europe, Middle East and Africa. Anthony Lim, on the other hand, will be based in New York and will cover the North, Central and South American markets.
Lim Chow Kiat has been with GIC since 1993 when he joined as a portfolio manager. He helped build up GIC’s investments in corporate bonds and was subsequently appointed head of its fixed income, currency and commodities department and deputy president of GIC Asset Management.
Anthony Lim joined the sovereign fund as president of its London office in 1998, before which he was a senior managing director at Banking Trust Company in Singapore and London. Prior to that, he worked with the Monetary Authority of Singapore for three years in its New York office.
The two new appointments are part of a continuing management shake up at GIC. In June, GIC appointed Lim Siong Guan as group president and chairman of GIC Asset Management. His appointment followed the retirement of Richard Hu and Lee Ek Tieng as chairmen of GIC Real Estate and GIC Asset Management respectively.
In the same month, GIC also appointed Tony Tan, deputy chairman and executive director of GIC and chairman of GIC Special Investments, as chairman of GIC Real Estate too.
GIC, which is estimated to manage assets of more than $300 billion (€209 billion), is an active investor in the private equity asset class, making commitments to private equity funds as well as direct investments.
GIC Special Investments, the private equity arm of the sovereign fund, has invested in a variety of global, regional and country-focused private equity funds. Managers it has backed include TPG, The Carlyle Group, Hellman & Friedman, The Blackstone Group, Bain Capital, KKR, Providence, Silver Lake, BC Partners, Permira, CVC, Sequoia Capital, Sigma Partners, Affinity Equity Partners, Ironbridge Capital and Avenue Asia.
Besides making commitments to funds, GIC has invested directly and made co-investments in more than 200 companies globally.
According to GIC’s first performance report released in September 2008, 23 percent of its portfolio is allocated to alternative assets including private equity and real estate. The fund currently allocates 8 percent to private equity, venture capital and infrastructure, and 10 percent to real estate.
GIC could not be reached at press time.
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