Hongguan said:

Mdm,

A) The link to suggest that investing in equities and PE would generate continual stream of income is weak at best. Investment in equities is by and large a capital appreciation game. PE — as an income source?? Low liquidity, lumpy returns profile… there is definitely no steady income stream to speak off!

B) Now, to say that investing in equities was a bid to beat inflation (which is indeed GIC’s objective) is more reasonable. However, post Volcker (US inflation has been steadily low) and likewise global inflation post 1994 has been going down steadily. Here is a research report from RBS, re Global Inflation addressing this issue.

C) What’s more likely, is that the dive into Equity and PE heavy asset allocation was a result of managers at GIC following the successful formula set by David Swensen and the Yale Endowment Model. Unfortunately, this financial crisis has not spared him as well — read his defence here.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Astute observations on MOF's statements regarding their portfolio losses"

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Reuters said:

"It's a wealth center," said Martyn Schilte, a manager in charge of selling million dollar supercars in Singapore. "If you look at the type of client we sell to, it's people with a net worth of $50 million-plus."

The city-state has its sights on attracting the world's wealthy to its palm-tree-lined coastline where some apartments come with a private yacht berth. Its plan is working.

As Asia's elite move billions to the country, assets under management soared by a third last year to more than $800 billion.

The amount may be small compared to Switzerland. Singapore had $500 billion in offshore assets under management last year, according to the Boston Consulting Group, compared to four times as much in Switzerland

Recommended by Selfrevolution: "In this climate of financial meltdown, will the long-term reputation of Singapore be affected by our hurry to become the world banking sector's Plan B for secrecy?"

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The Guardian, UK said:

Why is it that a growing number of highly educated and well-travelled people are willing to hand over several of their freedoms in return for prosperity or security? This question has been exercising me for months as I work on a book about what I call the "pact".

The model for this is Singapore, where repression is highly selective. It is confined to those who take a conscious decision openly to challenge the authorities. If you do not, you enjoy freedom to travel, to live more or less as you wish, and – perhaps most important – to make money.

Recommended by Selfrevolution: "John Kampfner reflects on a growing trend of a new form of calibrated authoritarianism, combined with the tenets of capitalism, which is slowly taking root around the world in the post 9/11 era. And Singapore's model is a learning tool for that purpose.."

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jiinjoo said:

Here I made the maximum budget advance of $9B which is around 4.71% of the GDP (money greedy finance minister, I am). Sounds kinda puny actually, but I don’t mind pocketing the difference ;-)

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "This application is way cool!~ I wish I could control MOF too ..."

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MoF Budget 2007

Finance Asia said:

The market was shocked on Friday when Morgan Stanley announced that its Asia economist, Andy Xie, had resigned. The announcement was brief and mysterious, giving no explanation of why he was going or where he was going. With Morgan Stanley’s bonus period only two months away, it looked like a very strange time for the Shanghai-born Xie to leave the firm.

The Hong Kong rumour mill quickly began speculating as to why Xie had left. Attentions have focused on an email that Xie penned on September 18. Many copies of the email – which was about Singapore – have since been passed around by the region’s fund management and banking community.
...
“I tried to find out why Singapore was chosen to host the conference,” wrote Xie. “Nobody knew. Some said that probably no one else wanted it. Some guessed that Singapore did a good selling job. I thought that it was a strange choice because Singapore was so far from any action or the hot topic of China and India. Mumbai or Shanghai would have been a lot more appropriate. ASEAN has been a failure. Its GDP in nominal dollar terms has not changed for 10 years. Singapore’s per capita income has not changed either at $25,000. China’s GDP in dollar terms has tripled during the same period.”

Xie then continued that he thought some “were competing with each other to praise Singapore as the success story of globalisation. Actually, Singapore’s success came mainly from being the money laundering centre for corrupt Indonesian businessmen and government officials. Indonesia has no money. So Singapore isn’t doing well. To sustain its economy, Singapore is building casinos to attract corrupt money from China.”

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Some harsh words for Singapore... "

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Dr Money said:

AS Tan Kah Lin, 31, recently made her first investment. She bought a single premium investment linked policy (ILP). It is like unit trust but sold by an insurance company.

She and husband Bernard earn $6,000 per month and have $20,000 in cash and CPF money to invest. They have one child, Bernice, 1. I spoke with Kah Lin.

ILP's are tremendously popular, but how do you choose the right ones? Dr Money shows you how in this article and even lists down the ILP's with the best value for your money in a comparison table, something that insurers will never publicize.

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DrMoney said:

Are you thinking of buying a flat? If so, watch out. Some banks offer good home loan deals, while others don't.

Comparison table for Home Loans(private)

Comparison table for Home Loans(HDB)

DrMoney aka Larry Haverkamp, is one of Singapore's best kept secrets for financial planning information. There is a lot of confusing and conflicting financial information out there but do not fear because DrMoney tells it like it is - in simple plain english. DrMoney has a weekly column in the New Paper and is highly recommended for:-

1. Teenagers: Learn about personal finance so that you won't be clueless when your time comes
2. Working adults: Admit it, we're all clueless. Do not trust your bank/insurance agent/financial planner. Read and DIY.
3. Elderly adults: You need to read this more then anybody else. DrMoney is also elderly and he gives sound advice.

Link to current article
List of older articles written by DrMoney
Dr Money also has his own website that's chock-full of useful information

Seow Leow said...

BTW did anyone caught the company's financial advisors and lawyers gleaming ear to ear on CNA last night? Must be thinking to themselves.. should I place an order for the 7 series or Maybach?

Apparently, it seems there's a silver lining to all of this...

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Forbes.com gives this report

Singapore shares closed lower Tuesday as investors turned cautious after Singapore government lowered its forecast for gross domestic product for 2005.

The Straits Times Index lost 11.11 points, or 0.5 percent, to end at 2,154.37.

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