SINGAPORE – Government of Singapore Investment Corp. suffered a loss of about 59 billion Singapore dollars (US$41.60 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 31, making it one of the worst years for the sovereign wealth fund since it was started in 1981, people familiar with the situation said Tuesday.

One person said GIC's portfolio currently stands at around S$265 billion after drops in equity investments and property valuations. GIC, which doesn't disclose the value of its portfolio or amounts of yearly gains or losses, said in its annual report that its portfolio lost more than 20% in value in the latest fiscal year.

However, GIC said, the recent rebound in global stock markets has helped it recover more than half of the losses incurred in the 12 months that ended in March. A second person said GIC's property valuations are also recovering after suffering big losses.

"GIC held on to all its property whose paper value at the end of the fiscal year looked miserable. Valuations were down in Australia, Russia, Europe, Japan and China. Now they are coming back, but are still way off their value in late 2007 and early 2008," this person said.

GIC manages Singapore's foreign exchange reserves. It is the world's fourth-largest sovereign fund in terms of money managed, according to Deutsche Bank, with high-profile investments in Western financial institutions like Citigroup Inc. and UBS AG.