Temasek Holdings

Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited

Type	State-owned enterprise
Industry	Investment management
Founded	25 June 1974; 47 years ago (1974-06-25)[1]
Headquarters	Singapore
Key people	Lim Boon Heng[2] (Chairman) Cheng Wai Keung (Deputy Chairman) Ho Ching[2] (Exec. Director & CEO)
Total assets	S$381 billion (2021)
Owner	Government of Singapore
Number of employees	More than 800 (2021)[3]
Subsidiaries	DBS Bank Singapore Airlines CapitaLand ST Engineering SP Group Singtel Mediacorp PSA International Certis Group SMRT Corporation Surbana Jurong Vertex Holdings Alvogen
Website	temasek.com.sg

Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited (abbreviated as Temasek; is a Singaporean holding company, owned by the Government of Singapore. Incorporated on 25 June 1974 as a Commercial Investment Company,^[1] Temasek owns and manages a net portfolio of S$381 billion as of 31 March 2021, with S$39 billion divested and S$49 billion invested during the year.^[4] Its one-year Total Shareholder Return (TSR) was 24.5%, with longer term 10 and 20-year TSRs at 7% and 8% respectively, compounded annually. Its TSR since inception was 14%, compounded over 47 years.^[5]

Temasek is anchored in Asia with a 60% underlying exposure to developed economies.^[6]

It is an active shareholder and investor, with four key structural trends guiding its long term portfolio construction – Digitisation, Sustainable Living, Future of Consumption, and Longer Lifespans.^[7] Temasek’s portfolio covers a broad spectrum of sectors. Its key focus investment areas include Consumer, Media & Technology, Life Sciences & Agri-Food, and Non-bank Financial Services.^[8]

Temasek differs from a sovereign wealth fund because it invests mostly in equities, is the outright owner of many assets, and pays taxes like other commercial investment firms.^[9]

Headquartered in Singapore, it has 13 offices in 9 countries around the world: Beijing, Hanoi, Mumbai, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Singapore in Asia; and London, Brussels, New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Mexico City, and Sao Paulo outside Asia.^[10]

Temasek has overall corporate credit ratings of “Aaa/AAA” by rating agencies Moody's Investors Service^[11] and Standard & Poor's^[12] Global Ratings respectively since its inaugural credit ratings in 2004. It has also attained perfect quarterly scores^[13] on the Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index, a measure of the openness of government-owned investment funds.

In February 2020, Temasek announced a company-wide wage freeze and voluntary pay cuts for senior management in part to help fund community programs aimed at alleviating the impact of COVID-19.^[14]

On 9 February 2021, the Board of Temasek Holdings announced that Mr Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, the current Chief Executive Officer of Temasek International (TI), will succeed Ms Ho Ching as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings with effect from 1 October 2021.^[15]

In addition to Temasek, the Government of Singapore owns GIC Private Limited, a sovereign wealth fund which manages about US$440 billion of assets.^[16]

Sustainability[]

As a company, Temasek has been carbon neutral since 2020. The firm has publicly stated that its goal is to reduce the net carbon emissions attributed to its entire portfolio to half of 2010 levels by 2030. It aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.^[17]

History[]

Incorporation[]

At the point of Singapore's independence in August 1965, the Government of Singapore had ownership or joint ownership of various local companies, such as Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (later split up into Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines) and the Singapore Telephone Board (which became Singapore Telecommunications). As part of its push for local and foreign private investment in sectors such as manufacturing and shipbuilding, the government's Economic Development Board (EDB) also bought minority stakes in a variety of local companies.^[18] During the first ten years after independence, the government acquired or established several companies, such as the Keppel Corporation (originally Keppel Shipyard, taken over from the Royal Navy after the British military withdrawal from Singapore), ST Engineering (originally a weapon manufacturer set up to supply the Singapore Armed Forces), and the shipping company Neptune Orient Lines.^{[citation needed]}

On 25 June 1974, Temasek was incorporated under the Singapore Companies Act^[1][19] to hold and manage the assets previously held directly by the Singapore government. The goal was for Temasek to own and manage these investments on a commercial basis,^[20] allowing the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Trade and Industry to focus on policymaking.

Status[]

Temasek is a company incorporated in Singapore, and operates under the provisions of the Singapore Companies Act. It is neither a government agency nor a statutory board. Like any other commercial company, Temasek pays taxes that contributes to government revenue in the countries it operates in, distributes dividends to its shareholder and has its own board of directors and a professional management team. Its sole shareholder is Singapore's Ministry of Finance.

Temasek is designated a Fifth Schedule^[21] entity under the Singapore Constitution, which imposes certain safeguards to protect the government's past reserves. For instance, the approval of the President of Singapore is required for any transaction which is likely to result in a draw-down of Temasek's cash reserves.^[22] The president also has the right to appoint, terminate, or renew the members of Temasek's board of directors. In most other respects, however, Temasek operates as an independent commercial investment holding company.

In a 2009 speech,^[20] Ho Ching, Temasek Holdings' Executive Director and CEO, said that the company had made an effort to instill discipline and professionalism, and to be tested and measured by providing public markers of performance. She noted that Temasek's bonds spreads and credit ratings have been regularly^[23] and independently^[24] monitored as public markers of Temasek's financial position and credit risks. Temasek had also openly^[25] and accurately^[26] disclosed its financial information through its annual report (although Ho said that, as a private company, it was not legally obliged to do so).

Initial holdings[]

Temasek's initial portfolio of S$354 million comprised shares previously held by the Singapore Government, including a bird park, a hotel, a shoe maker, a detergent producer, naval yards converted into a ship repair business, a start-up airline, and an iron and steel mill.^[27]

Stake Buy[]

In June 2018, Temasek invested S$340 million in a minority stake in UST Global, a digital technology services company.^[28] The size of the stake was not disclosed.

Temasek purchased 30 per cent of Haldor Topsoe’s shares in March 2019. The investment company was selected in recognition of the value that it would add through its deep insights and connections in Asian growth and other emerging markets, according to the Danish engineering firm.^[29] The transaction price was not disclosed.

In August 2020, Temasek Holdings added a 3.9 per cent stake in BlackRock Inc, worth about US$3.5 billion, becoming one of its largest shareholders.^[30] According to people familiar with the matter, Temasek was one of several players that bought the money manager’s shares when PNC Financial Services Group Inc. sold a US$14 billion stake earlier in the year.^[31]

Controversy[]

Purchase of Shin Corporation[]

Temasek's 2006 acquisition of Shin Corporation, owned by the family of then Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was particularly controversial, with protestors burning effigies of Lee and Ho on the streets of Bangkok.^[32] The deal was a factor in exacerbating the Thai political crisis, which eventually led to the downfall of Thaksin and a review of the transaction's legality. The military junta that overthrew Thaksin later tried unsuccessfully to force Temasek to divest a large part of its investment in Shin Corp.^[33] As of 2015, Temasek's stake in Intouch Corporation (as Shin Corporation was renamed) had reduced to 42%.^[34]

Fortune magazine described the investment in Shin Corp as a "spectacular misjudgment".^{[35][unreliable source?]}

In 2016, Temasek sold a 21% stake in Intouch Holdings, the Thai telecoms conglomerate formerly known as Shin Corp.^[36]

Controversy about Alvogen's CEO[]

Temasek is one of the largest shareholders in Alvogen and has a representative on the company board. The board led the internal investigation into allegations of abuse and bullying behavior against CEO Robert Wessman. The investigation highlights rising attention to conduct by corporate leaders in their dealings with colleagues and employees.^[37]

See also[]

• Government of Singapore Investment Corporation

References[]

External links[]

• Official website