- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
- Messages
- 12,730
- Points
- 113
The UBS debacle is an illustration of how the concentration of the power to make such large investment decisions in the hands of a few individuals is so dangerous. Particularly as there appears to be no accountability for those investment decisions later as there would be if Temasek or GIC were in the private sector. Let’s not forget that it is our money the managers are playing with. If this were a hedge fund or conventional asset manager that had performed poorly, then we, the ultimate owners of these assets, could take them away and give them to another manager. Unfortunately we do not have that option.
That may not seem like a huge amount in the context of GIC’s rumored total assets but we don’t know what percentage it represents of GIC’s equity. As the bonds issued to CPF by GIC have to be repaid it’s conceivable that GIC could end up with negative equity.
Tony Tan our (35%) elected President was deputy Chairman of GIC at that time so clearly there is a potential conflict of interest here and we should expect no efforts at improving transparency or oversight from that quarter. This is the reason why I have called for Temasek and GIC to be privatized and listed so that we can gain some much needed transparency and can become the majority shareholders in our own assets.
Now in 2011 we are told that GIC expresses “disappointment and concern at lapses”. Seriously guys, where have you been? As a minority stakeholder in a country that represses dissenting views I can do nothing more active than express disappointment. But in 2007 and again in 2010 GIC was the largest single shareholder in UBS and as the largest shareholder they had considerable clout. So the question should be why did GIC make no public effort to improve performance or risk controls over the last 4 years? Why did GIC not go public with their concerns before now as an activist hedge fund or asset manager would have done?
- http://sonofadud.com/2011/09/23/gic-ubs-and-the-death-spiral-of-your-cpf-funds/
That may not seem like a huge amount in the context of GIC’s rumored total assets but we don’t know what percentage it represents of GIC’s equity. As the bonds issued to CPF by GIC have to be repaid it’s conceivable that GIC could end up with negative equity.
Tony Tan our (35%) elected President was deputy Chairman of GIC at that time so clearly there is a potential conflict of interest here and we should expect no efforts at improving transparency or oversight from that quarter. This is the reason why I have called for Temasek and GIC to be privatized and listed so that we can gain some much needed transparency and can become the majority shareholders in our own assets.
Now in 2011 we are told that GIC expresses “disappointment and concern at lapses”. Seriously guys, where have you been? As a minority stakeholder in a country that represses dissenting views I can do nothing more active than express disappointment. But in 2007 and again in 2010 GIC was the largest single shareholder in UBS and as the largest shareholder they had considerable clout. So the question should be why did GIC make no public effort to improve performance or risk controls over the last 4 years? Why did GIC not go public with their concerns before now as an activist hedge fund or asset manager would have done?
- http://sonofadud.com/2011/09/23/gic-ubs-and-the-death-spiral-of-your-cpf-funds/
