Keisha Ong
Associate
Bachelor in Government and
Economics
– London School
of Economics and Political
Science, UK
THERE IS NEVER A DULL DAY AT GIC. As an Associate in the Real Estate department, a typical day is fairly wide-ranging. It could include site tours of physical assets such as office blocks, shopping malls or data centres. It could also involve meetings with a range of stakeholders, including C-suite executives, government officials, and industry experts to enhance our networks and informational edge in the realm of real estate investing.
GIC is truly global, with investments across diverse assets in over 40 countries. I travel regularly to key financial cities such as Seoul and Shanghai, to combine bottomup, on-the-ground perspectives with top-down regional or global trends to approach real estate investing.
➔ AT GIC, we actively leverage technology and data to
inform our investment decisions. One of the projects
that I have really enjoyed contributing to is a big data
study on retail malls in Shanghai. In China, we wanted
to better understand the existence of dominant malls,
the incremental importance of various transportation
options and amenities, and how we define our
catchment area and population. We found that our
questions could be better answered through rigorous
testing of data and development of models to sharpen
our investment insights.
Another interesting aspect of Real Estate is that assets can be fairly commoditised. Data from public property listing sites, geolocation data, and statistics databases can all be useful in triangulating insights and solutions for our investment and asset management business.
As a junior in GIC, I am empowered to step out, step up, and make decisions. I have the opportunity to engage C-suite executives on strategy and management decisions, and to also contribute directly to investment decisions. The exposure that GIC offers is unparalleled.
➔ APART FROM WORK,
I really enjoy travelling and
trying out new activities
such as paragliding,
bouldering, and zip-lining.
Ever since I had the
opportunity to study
overseas in London, I
have been relishing every
travel opportunity. The
change in landscape, as
well as the new people
that I met in either a
commercial or leisure
setting, have helped to
broaden my world view and
perspectives. Conversations
in topics such as politics,
classical music, and food
can spice up everyday
meetings and help to find
common ground even
amongst people from
different backgrounds.
➔ TAKING A SCHOLARSHIP IS A BIG DECISION,
but it is also rewarding in many senses. As a
scholar, I felt like I was part of the GIC family
from day one, and I have so many mentors
to thank for their invaluable advice given
from my university days to today.
To aspiring scholars, I have
one piece of advice to give:
“Be comfortable with being
uncomfortable.” In a dynamic industry
like finance, you will never have the
perfect solutions. You will be left
with more questions than answers,
and you must always test your deepest
convictions. So wherein lies the appeal?
Those same challenges will be sources of
deep intellectual satisfaction and fun.