GIC makes senior leadership changes, Bryan Yeo appointed new group CIO
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Mr Bryan Yeo will take over as GIC's group CIO with effect from April 1.
PHOTO: GIC
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SINGAPORE - Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC has announced two leadership appointments to its senior management team with effect from April 1.
Current deputy group chief investment officer (CIO) Bryan Yeo, 46, will take over as the group CIO to oversee the fund’s total investment portfolio.
He takes over from Dr Jeffrey Jaensubhakij, 58, who will retire after almost three decades
Mr Yeo was appointed deputy group CIO and director for the integrated strategies group in April 2024.
Before this, he served as CIO for public equities from 2016 to 2024, overseeing capital allocation and portfolio construction for the equities portfolio across global developed and emerging markets.
Mr Yeo joined GIC’s fixed income department as a portfolio manager in 2003 and rose to senior roles including head of credit markets and head of fixed income of the Americas based in New York, as well as head of credit research and strategy.
In another senior appointment, Mr Boon Chin Hau, 50, will take over from Mr Ang Eng Seng, who is retiring as CIO for infrastructure.
Mr Ang, 62, will also be appointed a GIC adviser.
Currently deputy CIO for infrastructure, Mr Boon will manage the fund’s global infrastructure strategy and portfolio in his new role.
Mr Boon joined the fund’s infrastructure group in 2008 and rose to senior roles including head of infrastructure for Asia and emerging markets, and head of infrastructure credit. He has worked in GIC’s London, New York and Singapore offices.
Before joining the fund, Mr Boon was an investment manager at Pulsar Energy Capital, where he invested in projects across the energy sector in Europe and the Americas.
Prior to Pulsar, he was a member of the infrastructure advisory team at Credit Suisse, covering a range of projects in transport, logistics and aerospace.
Mr Boon Chin Hau, in his new role as CIO for infrastructure, will manage the fund’s global infrastructure strategy and portfolio.
PHOTO: GIC
GIC chief executive officer Lim Chow Kiat expressed thanks to both Dr Jaensubhakij and Mr Ang, adding that the former was a key architect of GIC’s investments and an innovator in investment policies, while the latter was instrumental in the expansion of private markets across asset classes and geographies.
Dr Jaensubhakij’s exit is the biggest leadership change at GIC since January 2017, when he was made group CIO and his predecessor, Mr Lim, became CEO.
During Dr Jaensubhakij’s tenure, the fund stepped up on investments in alternative assets such as unlisted companies and real estate and reduced reliance on stocks and bonds.
The move made GIC one of the most powerful active global investors. The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute estimated that GIC has assets under management of about US$800.8 billion (S$1.1 trillion).
Dr Jeffrey Jaensubhakij will retire after almost three decades at the entity and become a GIC adviser.
PHOTO: GIC
The leadership changes come at a time of uncertainties including expectations of further geopolitical instability and slowing returns.
GIC, one of the three entities that contribute to Singapore’s reserves, in July 2024 posted its weakest 20-year rolling returns in four years, weighed down by lower returns in recent years and stubborn inflation.
It reported a 3.9 per cent annualised rolling 20-year real rate of return for the financial year ended March 31, 2024, down from 4.6 per cent in 2023, 4.2 per cent in 2022 and 4.3 per cent in 2021.
