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GIC reputation?

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BillyB
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Re: GIC reputation?

Post by BillyB » Mon, 09 Jun 2014 10:50 am

USExpatt wrote:Hi there,

I'm currently an American working as a 1st year (going into 2nd yr) analyst at an investment bank in NYC. I just received an offer to join GIC's Professionals Programme as part of a transition to Singapore to be closer with family in other parts of Asia.

What's GIC's reputation, career advancement for non scholars, etc like? How does it compare to banking positions? It's quite a big paycut so I want to make sure I'm not making the wrong decision. Thanks.
I'd jump at the chance to join GIC - from my experience of them as a client, they attract the best talent in the local market outside of, perhaps, the hedge fund community.

Having GIC referenced on your CV gives you kudos and and an interview ticket to most other financial institutions in Singapore, if not more broadly in Asia.

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Re: GIC reputation?

Post by USExpatt » Mon, 09 Jun 2014 11:30 am

BillyB wrote:
USExpatt wrote:Hi there,

I'm currently an American working as a 1st year (going into 2nd yr) analyst at an investment bank in NYC. I just received an offer to join GIC's Professionals Programme as part of a transition to Singapore to be closer with family in other parts of Asia.

What's GIC's reputation, career advancement for non scholars, etc like? How does it compare to banking positions? It's quite a big paycut so I want to make sure I'm not making the wrong decision. Thanks.
I'd jump at the chance to join GIC - from my experience of them as a client, they attract the best talent in the local market outside of, perhaps, the hedge fund community.

Having GIC referenced on your CV gives you kudos and and an interview ticket to most other financial institutions in Singapore, if not more broadly in Asia.
Thanks everyone for all the insight/advice, it's definitely a life changing decision to think about.

You mentioned that GIC does make you an attractive candidate to other firms as well in Asia. However, do you/anyone know about if this is still true in the US? I may end up going back at some point in the future.

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Re: GIC reputation?

Post by JR8 » Mon, 09 Jun 2014 12:05 pm

BillyB wrote: I'd jump at the chance to join GIC - from my experience of them as a client, they attract the best talent in the local market outside of, perhaps, the hedge fund community.
Gawd help them then, given their return/ROE is less than simply passively putting the funds into an SGX index tracker. I'd be interested to read how they explain that.
BillyB wrote: Having GIC referenced on your CV gives you kudos and and an interview ticket to most other financial institutions in Singapore, if not more broadly in Asia.
Kudos as a result of what? Maybe some people would look at GIC in awe simply because it's the SG government; but I think I'd prefer to get my formative career years in with an organisation known for it's reputation and results.

This is doubly so, as the OP is considering departing from an established and reliable career-path in NYC... And, looking at a significant pay-cut. IME you consider steps down career-wise (i.e. who you work for) later in the career, when you've built your blue-chip foundation. I.e. you require significant pay-hikes to go and work for smaller operations, because of the value of your experience.

If he later returns to Wall Street what then, interviewers note that he jumped ship early for an operation that returns less than a manufacturer of soap powder (Unilever 3.5-4%)?

I'm not 100% negative on the possibilities, but added to the above that there is a girlfriend as a primary motivator within the mix, it seems reasonable to give the tree a bloody good shake.

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Post by BillyB » Mon, 09 Jun 2014 12:21 pm

No idea about how they are viewed in the US.

JR8 - their risk profile is exceptional - they are about as safe as you can get, outside of Govvies or cash at bank, and their performance at 6-8% over 10 and 20 years is solid in my view.

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Post by JR8 » Mon, 09 Jun 2014 12:38 pm

BillyB wrote:No idea about how they are viewed in the US.

JR8 - their risk profile is exceptional - they are about as safe as you can get, outside of Govvies or cash at bank, and their performance at 6-8% over 10 and 20 years is solid in my view.
Fair enough, I haven't read their results/reports, and am going on wikipedia, (as previously quoted)* ...

'For the year ended 31 March 2013, its annualised 20-year real rate of return was 4.0%. In USD nominal terms, GIC achieved an annualised return of 2.6%, 8.8% and 6.5% for 5-year, 10-year and 20-year time periods respectively.

Then deduct inflation, and then, deduct a bog-standard return from Unilever or the SGX and it's not very pretty. I think an earlier point I made was they'd have returned more simply buying stock in HSBC, or Berkshire Hathaway. But then... national pride comes at a cost.




*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government ... orporation

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Post by Beeroclock » Mon, 09 Jun 2014 2:44 pm

Regarding the career aspect, I would've thought a stint in GIC would be a positive for the CV from the perspective that Sovereign Wealth Funds are increasingly significant (e.g. it's often mentioned the Norway SWF owns on average 1.2% of all publicly listed companies). As the Investment Banks/ Private Equity are often competing/partnering/serving these SWF's, I would think they would value some inside knowledge of how they tick.

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Re: GIC reputation?

Post by silvermoon137 » Thu, 03 Mar 2016 4:36 am

Which group are you at? I heard usual lateral is 12k monthly plus 6-10 month bonus.

100k sounds very low

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Re: GIC reputation?

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Thu, 03 Mar 2016 8:41 am

You do realize you are responding to a 2 year old post where the poster only made 6 posts and never returned, don't you? #-o
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Re: GIC reputation?

Post by silvermoon137 » Thu, 03 Mar 2016 8:49 am

lol no I didnt ....

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