Key changes at Singapore's Temasek over the past two decades

5 months ago

An executive prepares to take the stage during the annual Temasek Review in Singapore

SINGAPORE, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Singapore's state investment company Temasek (TEM.UL) announced on Thursday a major reorganisation of its operations, marking one of the most significant structural shifts in its 51-year history.

Following are some of the key changes at Temasek before Thursday's announcement:

STRUCTURAL SHIFTS

In 2011, Temasek Holdings formed Temasek International as its management arm to separate ownership and investment functions, enhancing governance and operational agility as it evolved as an active investor with a growing and increasingly global portfolio.

In 2016, Temasek announced an organisation structure change, saying the aim was to align the firm with its core priorities in challenging global times.

It formed a sustainability and stewardship group to lead ESG initiatives and consolidated sector and market investment teams under a unified investment group, among others.

In 2020, Temasek established a new asset management group, Seviora Holdings, as the operational holding company for its wholly owned asset managers.

Seviora comprises Azalea Asset Management, Fullerton Fund Management, Innoven Capital, SeaTown Holdings and Seviora Capital.

LEADERSHIP TRANSITIONS

Ho Ching was appointed CEO in 2004, driving Temasek's globalisation and portfolio diversification. Portfolio had tripled to more than S$300 billion ($233.9 billion) when she retired in 2021 from S$90 billion, which was mostly invested in Singapore, when she first became CEO. Ho is the wife of former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Dilhan Pillay succeeded Ho Ching as CEO on October 1, 2021. He joined Temasek in 2010 and has held various leadership roles, including Head of Investment, Portfolio Management, and Enterprise Development Groups.

He has also led various market teams including Singapore, the U.S. and Americas.

This year, Teo Chee Hean, former Deputy Prime Minister and navy chief, will become Temasek's fifth chairman on October 9, succeeding Lim Boon Heng, who served since 2013.

GLOBAL EXPANSION

Under Lim, who was chairman for 12 years, Temasek's net portfolio value grew to S$389 billion in March 2024 from S$223 billion in the corresponding month a decade earlier. Lim was a former cabinet minister and labour chief.

Temasek also expanded in Europe and the United States, which now host six of its 13 international offices.

Some of Temasek's notable deals during this period include investments into Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba

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and top asset manager BlackRock

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and divestment of older real estate assets to pivot toward the tech, healthcare and sustainability sectors.

PORTFOLIO MOVES

Temasek oversaw some major restructurings in its portfolio companies to enhance their value.

This included CapitaLand's acquisition of property group Ascendas-Singbridge in 2019 and eventual split into a listed real estate investment manager CapitaLand Investment

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and a privately held developer CapitaLand Development in 2021.

Others include energy and urban infrastructure company Sembcorp Industries'

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demerger from Sembcorp Marine, now Seatrium

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, an offshore marine company, in 2020; and Keppel'S

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divestment of its offshore and marine operations in 2022.

($1 = 1.2827 Singapore dollars)

Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui and Ankur Banerjee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong

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Yantoultra Ngui is the Southeast Asia Deals Correspondent of Reuters in Singapore, covering M&A and capital market activities in a region that is fast emerging as one of the world’s biggest economies. He previously was a reporter at Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Notably, he was part of WSJ's team that covered the financial scandal at Malaysian state fund 1MDB, and that won SOPA Excellence in Breaking News award for the coverage of the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, in Malaysia in 2018. Yantoultra graduated with an MBA in Finance from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in 2010.

Source singapore