Singaporean Retail Investors' Exposure to UK Gilts and Pension-linked Funds

80 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Prime Minister in light of the recent historic fall in the pound sterling and the rise in the United Kingdom's borrowing costs, whether MAS has assessed the extent of Singaporean retail investors' exposure to UK gilts and pension-linked funds.

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (for the Prime Minister): Singapore retail investors would have minimal exposures to UK government securities, also known as gilts, or to UK pension-linked funds. Gilts are, as with most major government bonds, predominantly bought by institutional investors and financial institutions. UK pension-linked funds manage the pension monies of UK residents, and Singapore retail investors are unlikely to have invested directly in them.

While Singapore retail investors may have indirect exposures to gilts through the global bond funds they invest in, these are relatively small. As of December 2021, such indirect exposures were estimated at about S$18 million. This is a miniscule 0.01% of the total invested by Singapore investors in retail investment funds.