GIC chief sees buying opportunity amid emerging market rout

GIC is seeing buying opportunities amid the emerging market rout, with its chief executive officer Lim Chow Kiat seeing "idiosyncratic" factors driving the current market volatility.

Speaking at a Bloomberg Live event on Thursday, Mr Lim said that following the "dry run" of the taper tantrum of 2013, some emerging markets have taken tough corrective measures to strengthen their fundamentals.

"We've talked about the lack of volatility for some time now. Now we're seeing it," he said. "As a long-term investor, we're not too perturbed by it."

He added that as valuations had earlier looked stretched for both stocks and bonds in emerging markets, the current market rout offers some opportunities. This comes even as overall, valuations are still pricing in fairly strong economic growth ahead.

"We like to look at this as a possible window of opportunity," said Mr Lim, without referring to any specific market or investment.

"We've seen this movie before. Over time, the value will emerge, and the money will come back," he added, referring to international capital currently fleeing emerging markets.