GIC sells 2.4pc UBS stake at loss

SINGAPORE: Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC said yesterday it has sold, at a loss, almost half its stake in Swiss bank UBS, which it bought early in the global financial crisis. GIC said it was “disappointed” with the loss but added that conditions had changed since it bought the stake and it now made sense to invest the money elsewhere. GIC said its holdings in UBS had dropped to 2.7 per cent from 5.1 per cent. “It makes sense now for GIC to reduce its ownership of UBS and to redeploy these resources elsewhere,” said chief executive Lim Chow Kiat.