Unlike Norway’s national reserves which have been managed with 100% transparency, GIC has selectively disclosed information/data for decades. The fund | Norges Bank Investment Management
Value of Norway’s reserves in real time.
Every single investment is disclosed.
Norway lists its largest investments, bond investments, etc in its annual report.
If a fund that’s more than double the size of GIC could be totally transparent, Singaporeans should be asking what GIC is trying to conceal.
CPF members do not know the actual performance of GIC and should not pretend that we do; because GIC’s annual reports publish mostly irrelevant information.GIC Reports | GIC
The reason why Singaporeans have the impression that GIC is a good long-term investor is due to the repeated publication of profitable investments in the mainstream media, as if there are no losses (unless forced to disclose).
For example, BT reported in 2020 that GIC had hit jackpot in its DoorDash investment; it “had invested US$155.1 million across four late-stage financing rounds” and at the close of the first trading day, the value of GIC’s stake had shot up to US$5.04 bil! GIC’s stake in DoorDash bumped to US$5b after first-day pop in public market
So, when it comes to profitable investments, details – down to the amount of profit – are reported to impress the public.
What about unprofitable investments? According to one website, these are GIC’s US-listed investment:
GIC PRIVATE LTD Top 13F Holdings – WhaleWisdom.com
And there are many losers.
While its No. 1 investment DoorDash has been trumpeted in the mainstream media, nothing has been heard about No. 2 GDS Holdings Ltd whose shares are currently trading at more than 90% below its high.
And GDS has been losing more money every year. It is possible that unrealised losses could be at least $1 bil.
What about No. 6 Affirm Holdings which continues to incur more losses into 6th year?
Has No. 7 Yum China turned out to be a good investment?
Will No. 9 Cognex’s fortunes start to improve any time soon?
Currently at No. 10, Uxin Limited used to be GIC’s No.1 US- listed investment; valued at more than US$4 bil. Uxin has never been profitable and would have been delisted if not for the 2 recent reverse stock splits which propped up the share price by 100 times, ie price would otherwise be 1.9 cents without the reverse stock splits.
(See FB post on 25 Feb 2023 @Β (20+) Facebook)
Another loser is GIC’s No. 12 real estate firm Safehold Inc which is currently trading at a fraction from its high and near the 15-year low.
Like other cash burners, GIC’s Amplitude Inc is another investment that may go belly up soon.
Other embarrassing investments which Singaporeans will never know are Pagaya Technologies Ltd, Revance Therapeutics Inc, Anterix Inc, CI&T Inc, Movella Holdings Inc, etc.
GIC had more than 19 listed investments and a number of losers had been divested, eg Burning Rock (image below).
Unlike Norway’s SWF, GIC’s preference for opacity is obvious: its actual performance is embarrassing and scrutiny will raise questions on its performance, leading to suspicion and distrust.
If GIC’s listed investments could perform so badly, are its unlisted investments performing much better? It is unlikely.
The scary part is global stock market indices are near recent record highs and a huge correction/collapse is not a question of if, but when. And when that happens, the value of GIC’s portfolio will be decimated with losses exceeding US$100 bil.
The bulk of GIC’s funds come from CPF members. The reason why GIC has not been able to be transparent: there are numerous embarrassing investments. Transparency will also shatter the illusion of a fund manager par excellence; its declared and unverifiable returns may prove to be a lie.