GIC's Goh says wealth fund is 'underinvested' in real estate

[SINGAPORE] GIC, manager of more than US$100 billion of Singapore's reserves, is "underinvested" in property and is interested in transactions of scale, said GIC real estate president Goh Kok Huat.

GIC has about 7 per cent of assets in real estate, while it can invest 9 per cent to 13 per cent, Mr Goh said on Wednesday at a conference in Singapore. Given its size, GIC is focusing on larger, deeper markets and "gateway cities," he said.

"We would like to put up more money across the globe, but it really depends on whether we see those transactions that are interesting," Mr Goh said.

"We don't have the compulsion to push money out through the door." GIC doesn't disclose the size of its assets under management, though the London-based Sovereign Wealth Center puts its total holdings at US$343 billion, making it the world's sixth- biggest sovereign wealth fund.

The state investor has been adding to its real estate holdings, buying a building next to Tokyo Station last year in a bet on rising real estate values in the city. GIC also purchased Blackstone Group LP's 50 per cent stake in London's Broadgate office complex in 2013 and was part of a group that acquired the headquarters space of Time Warner in New York City for US$1.3 billion.

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