GIC unveils mini asset management reshuffle
In a mini-reshuffle, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC announced it had appointed Jeffrey Jaensubhakij as president of its asset management business, which manages public market investments.
The 46-year-old, who joined GIC in 1998 as a senior economist covering the US, relinquishes his position as the firm’s Europe president and will relocate from London to Singapore to take up the role, effective from April 1.
He has had portfolio responsibilities as co-head of asset allocation strategy in the economics and strategy department, while from 2003-11 he was head of the total return equities and US equities teams based in New York.
Jaensubhakij will take over from Lim Chow Kiat to allow him to concentrate on his role as group chief investment officer, to which he was appointed at the start of last month, as reported.
Further, Lim Kee Chong (pictured left) is to become deputy chief investment officer as well as director of the integrated strategies group (ISG), also from April 1.
ISG was formed a year ago to facilitate group-wide investments that are cross asset class, helping to build global relationships with key investors and corporations.
Lim had joined GIC in 1987 and had been deputy president of GIC Asset Management and director of global equities since 2010. He has experience in managing Japanese and European equities, and has managed GIC’s global equities and global sector portfolios.
In 2011 Lim was appointed head of total return equities, a benchmark agnostic group focused on long-term equity investment opportunities across developed markets.
Succeeding Jaensubhakij as president of Europe will be Ang Eng Seng, based in London. Having joined the firm in 1994, he will also assist Lim in pursuing investment opportunities for ISG.
He has been head of the direct investments group within GIC special investment since 2009. Prior to that he was closely involved in developing GIC’s private equity business in Northeast Asia, particularly China.
In 2003 he was posted to GIC’s London office to head the European private equity group; and from 2006 to 2012 he was also global head of GIC’s infrastructure group.
Publicly GIC states only that it manages in excess of $100 billion. But according toAsianInvestor’s annual ranking of Asian institutional investors by assets, GIC saw an 11% year-on-year decline in AUM to $220 billion as at July 2011 (the latest figure we were able to source). That ranked it 34th on our regional list.