Former GIC investment chief Ng Kok Song announces bid for Singapore presidential election

Former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song, 75, turned up at the Elections Department (ELD) on Wednesday at around 10.30am, accompanied by his fiancee.

After collecting his forms, Mr Ng told reporters outside ELD that he has three reasons to run for president: to give Singaporeans a choice; because he has been involved in building up the reserves; and because he is independent.

Noting the president’s critical role of safeguarding the reserves, Mr Ng said he had helped build up Singapore’s assets in his 45 years in public service: first at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, then at GIC.

Mr Ng, who retired from the sovereign wealth fund in 2013 after 27 years there, is now the executive chairman of investment firm Avanda Investment Management. He co-founded the firm with two former GIC colleagues in 2015.

He emphasised his lack of political affiliations, and that Singapore needs a president who is “independent of any political party to safeguard the integrity of our institutions”.

Mr Ng said he had been mulling over whether to run for some months, and that the “deluge of negative news” about political office-holders in recent days helped him to make his decision.

“I feel that, at a time like this, it is so important that good people should come forward to serve the country, because the future of Singapore depends critically on good people coming forward to serve the country,” he said.

He added that Singapore has given him much, and that at this stage of his life he has decided to serve his country one more time, with the support of his family, who were with him at the ELD.

“I have never been a political figure – my work has been professional and low-key,” he said. “I never sought the limelight; I concentrated on my public responsibilities.”

Mr Ng said that while many in the public service know who he is, many Singaporeans do not. “I will put this right in the coming weeks.”

He added: “The people of Singapore do not want another walkover. I am standing so that you can choose your president.”

Mr Ng 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.

About a month ago, on June 12, entrepreneur George Goh said he intended to contest 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 ELD or download them from its website since June 13.

His 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.

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.

Apart from his role at Avanda, Mr Ng’s other commitments now include being chairman emeritus and founder of the Wealth Management Institute that was established in 2003 by GIC and Temasek, 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 Mr Ng 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 company for at least three years.

During this time, the company must, on average, have had 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 company.

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

On Wednesday, Mr Ng said he was applying for eligibility to run for president based on his public service experience, not his Avanda experience.

“I’m applying on the basis of my work at the GIC, where I was the group chief investment officer for six years before I retired,” he told reporters.

Mr Ng’s public service contributions, while falling within the 20-year window of consideration, are not among the stated list of public service roles that qualify for the 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 that it manages “well over US$100 billion”, or S$132.5 billion.

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

What else is known about him

In 2013, Mr Ng was conferred the Thomas L. Hansberger Award for Leadership in the Global Investment Profession by the CFA Institute.

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

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 the 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 couple 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.

Mr Ng is now engaged to 45-year-old Singaporean Sybil Lau, who accompanied him to the ELD 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.