Edward joined GIC through the GIC Internship Programme (GIP) and is now part of the GIC Professionals Programme (GPP), where he has spent the past ten months. As an Investment Analyst on the Global Emerging Markets team, he covers the resources space across energy, materials, and utilities. His work spans meeting with management teams, conducting channel checks, forecasting supply and demand, building company models, and formulating investment theses, all with the goal of uncovering opportunities with favourable risk-reward for the team.
Outside of work, Edward enjoys reading fiction and biographies and listening to podcasts, with Acquired, Dwarkesh, and Cheeky Pint among his favourites. He has also joined a boxing gym in Singapore, spends much of his time with friends and family, and loves to travel. As this is his first time living in Southeast Asia, he is making it a goal to visit all the neighbouring countries.
Why did you decide to join GIC?
I had known about GIC for many years before joining, given its reputation as a leading institutional investor. I saw it as an excellent place to start my career, thanks to its global platform, its involvement in large investments across asset classes, and its strong resources for investment research.
My interest first took shape when a university friend from a student society told me about the GIC internship. She was a former GIP and current GPP who had a wonderful experience in the credit team at the London office. What ultimately solidified my decision was my panel interview with two senior portfolio managers from Public Equities. Not only did they ask genuinely interesting questions about markets, but it was also clear that they cared about how I think and about my intellectual interests beyond finance.
Once I joined, three things surprised me most. First, how humble and open-minded the senior colleagues are. My portfolio manager, who has more than fifteen years of experience covering the space, was receptive to my ideas even when I was just an intern. Second, how lean and agile the teams are, which means juniors are given real responsibility and can contribute meaningfully from early on. Finally, even knowing GIC’s reputation as one of the most established institutional investors globally, I was struck by just how much resource we have to diligence our theses. I was able to lead management, expert, and sell-side analyst calls as a GIP and GPP.
What does a typical workday look like for you?
I spend most of my day synthesising information and forming my own views. That involves reading the news, sell-side research, expert transcripts, industry reports, AI deep-dives, and relevant books, as well as conducting expert, management, and analyst calls. The rest of my time goes towards translating those views into clear, quantifiable investment theses, which means supply and demand modelling, financial modelling, analysing positioning and sentiment, and producing presentations and memos.
What do you like most about working here?
The people here are exceptionally bright and curious, yet equally humble and approachable. I have been fortunate to have excellent mentors who have invested a great deal in my growth and trusted me with significant responsibility early on. I have also bonded closely with my GPP and GIP cohort, as well as other junior colleagues, many of whom have become some of my closest friends.
How would you describe your learning and development at GIC?
GIC invests significantly in the development of its juniors. The GPP began with a one-month bootcamp, where leaders from each department shared their investment process and advice. After that, I completed nine months of rotations: one in my home team in equities, one in our sustainability office, and one in credit research. In each rotation, I received one-on-one mentorship from very senior investment professionals with around fifteen years of experience, and I worked on projects ranging from initiating coverage on a bank’s AT1s to combining AI with leading academic models to predict HVAC demand.
What skills or knowledge have you developed while working at GIC?
Beyond the technical skills, such as accounting and financial modelling, I have developed two abilities that have shaped me as an investor. The first is synthesising information to form my own views. It is a common pitfall for juniors, given the experience gap, to simply adopt the view of the sell-side, experts, or management. Analysing their assumptions critically, reasoning from first principles, and discussing ideas with my mentors have helped me move from echoing others to thinking for myself. The second is filtering out the noise to focus on what matters. We receive an enormous amount of information each day, yet only a fraction is truly important for long-term investors. This is something I am still working on but watching the senior portfolio managers and noting what they choose to discuss in both internal and external meetings has helped me come a long way.
What are some highlights in your career thus far?
I have helped the Global Emerging Markets team look into several companies across several industries during my time here. One of the most interesting projects involved a deep dive into a particular commodity. By building a detailed supply and demand model, and speaking with industry experts across multiple regions, we were able to correctly anticipate a market squeeze driven by supply constraints that could not easily be offset elsewhere
What advice would you give to candidates looking to join GIC?
Be willing to form a view and hold strong convictions but stay flexible enough to update them as new information emerges. Because of the nature of public markets, juniors can contribute from day one by synthesising information and becoming subject-matter experts. Portfolio managers at GIC are generally very busy, so they are most receptive to new ideas when you can show that you have done the work. For me, what keeps me going each day is simple: curiosity about the world, a genuine passion for investing, and the support of my colleagues.