Singapore defends GIC, Temasek returns as reasonable

By Jun Yuan Yong and Xinghui Kok

SINGAPORE, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Returns generated by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC GIC.UL and state investor Temasek TEM.UL are reasonable and within expectations given their mandates and risk profiles, a minister said on Monday, amid criticism of their performance.

Lawmakers in the city-state queried the performance of the two globally influential investors, which cumulatively manage hundreds of billions of dollars of assets. A Financial Times report in December called Singapore’s sovereign wealth returns "poor" in comparison to peers.

"Our focus has always been on long-term performance, rather than on short-term or year-to-year fluctuations," Jeffrey Siow, a Singapore senior minister of state for finance, told parliament in a live-streamed address.

Temasek reported a 10-year total shareholder return of 5% for the year ended March 31, 2025, which lagged the MSCI ACWI's 9% and Singapore's Straits Times Index's .STI 6%, though its 20-year return of 7% is broadly in line with both benchmarks.

Asked why Temasek's 20‑year returns appeared to only match the broader market's despite its unlisted assets shielding it from public market volatility, Siow said such comparisons are "not always appropriate or meaningful".

"Temasek is not quite the same as a typical sovereign wealth fund, it is an active bottom‑up investor and has a history as a holding company for Singapore portfolio companies," he said.

GIC's 20-year annualised real return came in at 3.8% for the year to March 31, 2025, marginally below the 3.9% it posted a year earlier, its weakest performance since 2020 when returns hit 2.7%.

Temasek wrote down its $275 million investment in collapsed crypto exchange FTX and eventually cut pay for senior executives after an internal review, while its portfolio holding, Indonesian aquaculture tech startup eFishery, faces a probe into alleged misconduct including fraud.

Temasek, which managed a S$434 billion ($338.35 billion) portfolio as of March 2025, will launch a new structure from April 1, it said in August.

GIC was also in the spotlight last year after filing a U.S. lawsuit against Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO 9866.HK, alleging NIO and two executives misled investors with false statements and withheld information about its business and prospects.

Siow said the government does not intervene in Temasek’s individual investment decisions, and works with GIC's board to ensure its mandate is met.

The minister said given investment markets have been uncertain and volatile, "GIC's returns over shorter periods could be low or even negative, but the government is able to absorb these short-term market fluctuations and risks because it has a strong balance sheet."