Thursday February 20, 3:45 PM
SINGAPORE'S BIGGEST FUND MANAGER POSITIVE ON ASIA
By Vasu Menon, Chief Editorial finatiQ
Providing a rare glimpse of its views on Asian markets, the Government of Singapore Investment Corp's (GIC's) managing director, Mr Ng Kok Song, indicated that GIC is positive on regional bourses. GIC manages over US$100 billion in Singapore's reserves.
Speaking at a recent briefing on GIC's collaboration with the Association for Investment Management and Research, Mr Ng was reported to have said that despite weak market conditions, there could be a shift in investments to Asia.
Among other factors, his optimism towards Asia stems from the fact that the profitability of Asian companies has impoved dramatically due to restructuring since the Asian crisis. This has boosted return on equity for many Asian companies, making them comparable to global players.
The other attraction about Asia lies in the fact that the region's economic growth is double world growth and yet valuations of Asian markets have been depressed with price-to-book discounts of 30%.
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