GIC is the fund manager that invests Singapore's foreign reserves for the government. The Government, represented by the Ministry of Finance, mandates it to achieve 'good long-term real returns'. GIC does not own the assets it manages and does not publish their size. Its headline measure is a rolling 20-year return: for the 20 years to 31 March 2026 it was 3.4% a year in real terms and 5.6% in US dollar nominal terms (GIC Report 2025/26, 24 July 2026).
Answer
- What it is: GIC is the fund manager that invests Singapore's foreign reserves for the government. It does not own those assets.
- Mandate: "to manage Singapore's foreign reserves with the aim of achieving good long-term real returns."
- Size: GIC does not publish how much it manages. Any AUM figure you see is an outside estimate.
- Latest return: 3.4% a year in real terms over the 20 years to 31 March 2026 (5.6% in US dollar nominal terms).
Sources: GIC Report 2025/26 and news release, 24 July 2026; GIC "Who we are". Full list below.
What is GIC?
GIC's mandate comes from the Government of Singapore. In the words of its 2025/26 report: "The Government, represented by the Ministry of Finance (MOF), mandates GIC to manage Singapore's foreign reserves with the aim of achieving good long-term real returns."
GIC describes its purpose as preserving and enhancing "the international purchasing power of the funds placed in our care." That is why it focuses on real returns, after inflation, rather than on a headline nominal gain.
The key structural fact is ownership. GIC "is a fund manager for the Government and does not own the assets that it manages." The reserves belong to the government; GIC is the manager. This is the main thing that separates it from Temasek, which owns its portfolio and reports its value.
How big is GIC?
GIC does not publish the size of the reserves it manages. The 2025/26 report pages we reviewed give returns, asset groups and governance, but no assets-under-management figure.
So treat any "GIC AUM" number in the press or in league tables as an outside estimate. We do not quote one here because GIC has not disclosed it.
For comparison, Temasek does publish a size: a Net Portfolio Value of S$518 billion at 31 March 2026 (Temasek release, 8 July 2026). See Temasek vs GIC for the full side-by-side.
How does GIC measure performance?
GIC's headline measure is a rolling 20-year annualised return, because its job is to protect the reserves' purchasing power over decades, not to win any single year.
| GIC long-run return, 20 years to 31 March 2026 | Annualised |
|---|---|
| Real return (after inflation) | 3.4% |
| US dollar nominal return | 5.6% |
Source: GIC news release, 24 July 2026.
The 20-year window smooths out single bad or good years and keeps the institution judged on the horizon that matches its mandate. It also means the headline moves slowly: a strong year adds only a little to a 20-year average.
How to read GIC's 3.4% and 5.6%
The two figures describe the same 20 years in different units.
- 5.6% US dollar nominal is the raw annual growth rate in dollars, before inflation.
- 3.4% real is what remains after adjusting for inflation, which is what GIC's mandate cares about.
The gap of roughly 2.2 percentage points a year is, in effect, the inflation the portfolio had to outrun to keep its purchasing power. That is why GIC leads with the real figure: a reserves manager succeeds if the money buys more over time, not just if the number gets bigger.
Three cautions when comparing GIC with other funds:
- Different horizons. Most pension funds and endowments headline a one-year return. GIC's 20-year figure is not comparable to a one-year number.
- Different currencies. Temasek reports shareholder returns mainly in Singapore dollars; GIC uses US dollars and real terms.
- Different ownership. GIC manages money it does not own, so it has no balance-sheet value to report the way Temasek does.
What does GIC invest in?
GIC presents its portfolio "in three broad asset groups: Equities, Fixed Income, and Real Assets." Its new framework describes the Strategic Portfolio as "Equities for growth, Fixed Income for income, and Real Assets for inflation resilience."
What changed in 2025/26, per GIC's report:
- Equities: the share increased.
- Fixed income: the share decreased correspondingly.
- Real assets: the share remained stable.
- Geography: "Within equities, we increased investments in the US, which remains GIC's largest investment market." GIC adds that it does not allocate assets by geography but monitors its regional exposures.
The report pages we could read did not show percentage weights, so we do not quote any.
Does GIC invest in Singapore?
As a rule, no. GIC's governance page says: "As a rule, GIC invests outside Singapore, though we can invest in appropriate Singapore companies if they have a good global footprint and generate good returns for GIC's portfolio."
Who runs GIC?
GIC's 2025/26 report lists Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong as Chairman and Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong as Deputy Chairman of its board.
GIC vs Temasek in one line
GIC manages reserves it does not own and reports a 20-year real return. Temasek owns its portfolio and reports a portfolio value and shareholder return. Full comparison: Temasek vs GIC: What Is the Difference?
Why GIC matters to other asset owners
- Horizon discipline. Anchoring the scorecard to 20 years keeps the focus on the mandate rather than on the latest year.
- Separation of owner and manager. The government owns; GIC manages. That split is a model many public funds study.
- Disclosure choices. GIC shows how an institution can report detailed long-run performance without publishing its size.
Compare GIC with other giant long-horizon investors: NBIM vs GIC, GIC vs CPP Investments and Singapore's Investment Landscape.
Sources
- GIC, news release on the GIC Report 2025/26, 24 July 2026. gic.com.sg/newsroom
- GIC Report 2025/26: Investment Report and Governance pages. report.gic.com.sg
- GIC, "Who we are". gic.com.sg/who-we-are
- Temasek, "Temasek Net Portfolio Value grows to S$518b, up S$49b from last year", 8 July 2026. temasek.com.sg
Figures checked against these sources on 30 October 2026.