GIC will stay invested in US even as geopolitical tensions rise: SM Lee

It has most dynamic and resilient economy, and is destination of choice for global talent

- Ovais Subhani

Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC still believes in the long-term potential of the US economy and will continue to invest in it despite intensifying global tensions that make investment decisions more difficult, said Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

SM Lee, who chairs GIC, said the US continues to be the most dynamic and resilient economy, and the destination of choice for talented and enterprising people from all over the globe. Meanwhile, its capital markets remain the most innovative and open in the world.

"And therefore, we fully intend to continue investing in the US and maintaining American assets as a substantial part of our overall portfolio," he said on Nov 13 at an event at Spring Studios in New York to mark GIC's 40 years in the US.

"We have every confidence that this is the correct choice for a fund taking a long-term perspective," he added, referring to the US, which accounts for more than one-third of GIC's global investment portfolio.

SM Lee told the GIC Insights 2024 event he was confident that GIC would continue to be a patient investor in the US for a long time to come.

"We have stayed here in the US throughout 40 very successful years of partnership, whether the market moved up, down or sideways," he said.

"We were there before the book, Dow 36,000, was written 25 years ago, and now, we are still here, and the Dow is about to be 44,000," he said, referring to US stock market Dow Jones Industrial Average.