Singapore's Wealth Fund GIC To Set Up $3Bn India-Focused Public Market Fund

• Singapore's GIC plans to set up a $2-3 billion fund for the Indian public market.
• GIC, The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI), currently has $400 billion assets under management (AUM).

Singapore-based wealth fund GIC (formerly known as Government of Singapore Investment Corporation) is planning to set up a $2-3 billion India-focused public market fund.

While the wealth fund GIC has not yet fixed the amount of the new fund, it is likely to pump in $2-3 billion (or about Rs 14K-22K crore).

The new fund will be the first dedicated source of capital for domestic equities set up by a large global financial institution. ET reported.

According to the reports, General Insurance Corporation Of India (GIC India) publicly holds 60 stocks with a total worth of over Rs. 14,365.7 Crore (or about $20 billion).

GIC has hired Aditya Agarwal, who was with WestBridge Capital, to head its new fund as managing director and is targeting a mid-2021 launch, The Economic Times reported. A team of four-five executives, including Agarwal, will be set up for the fund.

"The India-dedicated fund or specific allocation for the public market will help these global funds deploy more money into mid-cap equities," said sources.

GIC Private Limited is one of the world's six largest sovereign investors, which currently has $440 billion of assets under management (AUM). The fund, which had first established its India office in 2011. Since then, it has invested $10 billion in public listed companies and a total of about $20 billion in private equity and infrastructure projects.

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It is expected that the new fund to be launched in mid-2021, said reports. While in earlier October 2020, GIC had invested Rs 5,512 crore in Reliance retail arm Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) in exchange for 1.22% equity stakes.

Talking about the investments, GIC's top Indian holdings, include Bandhan Bank (7.8% stake), Baja Finance (4.2% stake), HDFC Ltd. (3.2%), ICICI Bank (2.4%), Bharti Airtel (1.52%), among others.

GIC is a Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund, owned by the Singapore government to manage its foreign reserves. GIC invest their funds in the international market across financial assets, from sovereign debt to infrastructure, and manages approximately 80% of its portfolio in-house.

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