On Tuesday 28 Jul 2020, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) released its 2019/2020 GIC Report. As the COVID-19 outbreak tears into global economies, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund reported its worst 20-year annualised real rate of return since 2009. For the year ending 31 Mar 2020, GIC’s 20-year annualised nominal return on its portfolio was 4.6 per cent After adjusting for the global inflation rate, the annualised 20-year real return this year stands at 2.7 per cent; down from 3.4 per cent last year. This reported rate of returns was also the lowest since the Global Financial Crisis, where its annualised 20-year real return dropped to 2.6%. What does this all mean? Let’s dive deeper into the report to find out!

TL;DR: Key Takeaways From GIC Singapore’s Performance in 2020

Despite a challenging global investment climate due to the fallout from COVID-19 and a drop in its annualised 20-year real return, GIC had already prepared beforehand to navigate this crisis by reducing its portfolio risk before the COVID-19 outbreak....