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GIC is delighted to collaborate with AIMR ( Association for Investment
Management and Research ) in their organisation of the first AIMR Global Investors
Workshop in Asia. We are happy that AIMR has chosen Singapore as the venue for
this inaugural event.
The Economic Review Committee, via the Services sub-committee, has
highlighted the opportunity for Singapore to develop as the hub in Asia for wealth
management i.e. asset management and private banking services. For Singapore to
exploit this business opportunity, we need to expand and develop the pool of talent
and expertise in wealth management. We also need to turn up the "buzz" in terms of
where investors, analysts, portfolio managers and traders congregate; where
companies and issuers of securities stage their roadshows; where deals are done;
where information, intelligence and ideas are acquired first-hand. In short, we should
position Singapore to be the first port of call for American and European investors
looking for investment opportunities in Asia. As a model, we can look at how London
in the UK has over-shadowed Paris and Frankfurt as the one-stop shop for portfolio
investing in the European Community and Eastern Europe.
It is in this context that the AIMR Global Investors Workshop has
particular significance for Singapore. This AIMR Investor workshop brings to Asian
investment professionals a unique educational program that has been developed for
about 20 years in the United States. It is more than a conference or seminar that just
delivers information. Through the use of real-world case studies, written and
facilitated by an expert faculty, participants are led through an intensive, interactive
exploration of best practices and major challenges in global investment management.
I can attest to the high standard of the workshop because I attended it in 1986, as I
recall it, in Princeton, New Jersey. Over the years, GIC has sent over 20 of our
investment professionals to the US workshop.
In July 2001, the AIMR created an international extension of the program,
with the first Global Investors workshop in Cambridge, England. I am told that, since
then, more than 100 investment professionals have attended the Cambridge
workshop. Now, in February 2003, Singapore has the privilege to being chosen as
the venue for the first Asian AIMR Global Investors workshop. There are 33
participants from 9 countries of which 6 are from GIC.
GIC has an excellent collaborative relationship with AIMR. The AIMR is
the qualifying body for the globally recognised CFA charter that is much sought after
by investment professionals. GIC has 103 CFA charter holders, perhaps the largest
number in an Asian investment management organisation. One of GIC's senior
equity portfolio managers, Mr Ong Seow Beng, recently served on the AIMR Board of
Governors.
As Singapore moves forward to be the Asian hub for wealth management
services, GIC hopes that AIMR would be a partner with the Singapore financial
community in this endeavour.
I have accepted the AIMR's invitation to speak this evening at the
workshop.
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