PE2023: Former GIC investment chief Ng Kok Song shows up at ELD to collect forms

SINGAPORE - Former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song turned up at the Elections Department (ELD) on Wednesday (July 19) around 10.30am, accompanied by his fiancee.

The 75-year-old had told The Straits Times on July 15 that he was “deliberating” running for President, as it was an issue of great national importance and there would be immense personal implications.

Mr Ng, who retired from the sovereign wealth fund in 2013 after 27 years there, is currently the executive chairman of investment firm Avanda Investment Management.

He co-founded the firm with two former GIC colleagues in 2015.

About a month ago on June 12, entrepreneur George Goh said he intended to contest in the upcoming presidential election.

Former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam had earlier declared his bid on June 8, and resigned from the Government and People’s Action Party on July 7.

Incumbent President Halimah Yacob has said she will not stand for re-election when her term ends on Sept 13.

Candidates interested in running for the presidency have been able to collect forms from the Elections Department or its website since June 13.

Mr Ng’s background

In 1970, Mr Ng joined the public service as an investment analyst with the Finance Ministry, after graduating with a physics degree from the University of Singapore.

The Public Service Commission scholarship recipient then moved to the Monetary Authority of Singapore a year later, when it was formed.

In 1986, five years after GIC was formed, Mr Ng joined it to head the equities and bonds department. He was the fund’s first non-expatriate director.

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In 2007, he was made GIC’s first group chief investment officer, a post he held till he retired in 2013.

Mr Ng was also the founder and chairman of the Singapore International Monetary Exchange in 1984, which was later incorporated into the Singapore Exchange as its derivatives arm.

Currently, apart from his role at Avanda, Mr Ng’s other commitments include being chairman emeritus and founder of the Wealth Management Institute at Nanyang Technological University, and serving on PIMCO’s Global Advisory board.

The board includes the likes of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and former US Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke.

Avanda has turned a profit in the last three financial years from 2020 to 2022, according to documents obtained by The Straits Times from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.

It has had an average of about $73 million in shareholder equity in the last three years.

Not clear if he qualifies

It is not clear if he will automatically qualify for the presidency through the private sector route, as according to Article 19(4)(a) of the Constitution, he has to be the chief executive - or the most senior executive - of a firm for at least three years.

During this time, the company must, on average, have at least $500 million in shareholders’ equity and made profit after tax throughout.

While Mr Ng is the executive chairman, it is unclear if he is the most senior executive at the firm.

Avanda also does not meet the $500 million shareholder equity criteria.

Mr Ng’s public service contributions, while falling within the 20-year window of consideration, are also not among the stated list of public service roles that qualify for presidency, as he was not chief executive of GIC or any of the other eligible government-related entities.

The group’s chief investment officer oversees its total investment portfolio, though how much this constitutes is not publicly disclosed.

While GIC does not disclose how much it manages overall, the Finance Ministry website states it manages “well over US$100 billion”.

Some estimates by research companies have placed the figure as high as around US$744 billion.

It is likely that he will have to apply under the private or public sector deliberative track.

What else is known about him

In 2013, Ng was conferred the Thomas L Hansberger Award for Leadership in the global investment profession by the CFA Institute in 2013.

He was also conferred the Legion of Honour by the French government in 2003 and the Order of Merit in 2011.

He received the Meritorious Service Medal from the Singapore Government in 2012.

Outside of his work, Mr Ng is also known as a proponent of meditation.

Past reports have featured him as the one who taught late Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew how to meditate, back in the late 2000s.

Mr Ng himself picked up the practice with his late wife Patricia more than 30 years ago, and it helped the two when she was ill with stomach cancer.

She died in 2005, leaving behind three children - a son, now 50, and two daughters now aged 47 and 33.

He is now engaged to 45-year-old Singaporean Sybil Lau, who accompanied him to the Elections Department on Wednesday.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Ms Lau has been managing her family’s wealth since 2009. She is also a board member of SG Enable, the focal agency for disability here.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.