Investment veteran Lim Chow Kiat is taking over the reins at sovereign wealth fund GIC.

The 46-year-old will be appointed chief executive with effect from Jan 1. He is currently deputy group president and group chief investment officer, a role he took over from GIC pioneer Ng Kok Song.

Mr Lim will take over amid a challenging investing environment.

He joined GIC in 1993 as a portfolio manager after graduating with a first-class honours degree in accountancy from Nanyang Technological University. He developed GIC's investment capability in corporate bonds and rose to head the fixed income, currency and commodities department.

GIC also announced yesterday that group president Lim Siong Guan will retire, and be appointed adviser to the GIC Group executive committee on Jan 1. "I am happy to be able to hand over the reins of leading GIC to Chow Kiat," Mr Lim Siong Guan, 69, said yesterday. "Chow Kiat comes with clear investment credentials to take GIC into the future and lead an organisation that is alert to new possibilities, faster in moving on opportunities and nimble in execution."

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is GIC chairman, said Mr Lim Siong Guan had "groomed a new generation of professional leaders, built up a fit and flexible organisational structure, and imbued the GIC team with sound values and ideals". He thanked Mr Lim Siong Guan on behalf of GIC's board, and said it has "full confidence" in incoming chief executive Lim Chow Kiat.

In July, GIC warned of a tough investment environment as it announced that its 20-year annualised real rate of return was 4 per cent for the financial year ended March 31, down from 4.9 per cent in the previous year.

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