For Fund Management

GSIS Selects
ING, Credit Agricole

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) announced Monday, November 5, it had awarded to ING Investment Management and Credit Agricole Asset Management (Singapore) Ltd. the mandates for its US $1 billion Global Investment Program (GIP).
This action followed after approximately a month of thorough deliberation and review. The GSIS Board of Trustees decided that ING and Credit Agricole bear the best credentials and provided the best investment proposal for the GIP among the nine global fund managers that vied for the mandate.
The asset allocation GSIS proposed for the GIP included a mixture of global-high dividend, global property securities, global fixed income, and alternative investments. For the GIP, the GSIS has set an absolute return requirement of a floor of eight percent in annual return on investments (net of fees) and a ceiling of seven (7) percent on the portfolio volatility.
On the part of Credit Agricole, it has an AUM of approximately $725 billion and is given a fund manager rating of “M2” by Fitch. Organizations which earn such rating are considered generally stable, well-capitalized investment management companies with a track record of profitability. Credit Agricole is regarded as the 4th largest banking corporation in the world and number one (1) in France in terms of Tier 1 capital. The company is also the pioneer in absolute-return strategy in Europe. The asset portfolio it has proposed to the GSIS is composed of global bonds, Asian equities, global equities fund, and cash equivalents. There is still a possibility that more asset managers may be named in the future. /MP