http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=axCB2V7W4uko
Bloomberg.com, 29 Jul 2009, Shamim Adam
Temasek to Hang on to ‘Family Jewels,’ Allow Public to Invest
July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Temasek Holdings Pte vowed to hang on to the “family jewels” as a long-term investor and said it may allow the public to invest in Singapore’s state-run fund.
The value of the company’s assets dropped by more than S$40 billion ($27.8 billion) in the 12 months ended March, Chief Executive Officer Ho Ching said in a speech in Singapore today. The investment firm will act to enhance value over as long as 30 years and will not sell stakes “for divestment’s sake,” Ho said.
“We don’t intend to raid the larder nor sell the family jewels for short-term gains,” Ho
said. “We will jealously guard our interest and will invest,
rationalize, consolidate or divest where it makes sense, where we can
achieve clear, sustainable value.”
Ho, wife of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, drove an
expansion outside Singapore and increased financial assets to 40
percent of a portfolio that has declined as the credit crisis drove
down the value of stakes in Merrill Lynch & Co., Barclays Plc and
Standard Chartered Plc.
Temasek would consider over the long term creating
one more group of stakeholders, and may invite the public to “co-
invest” with the company, Ho said. It may seek
“sophisticated investors” in five to eight years and retail investors
in the next eight to 10 years, she added.
“It is important to test this over at least one market cycle during the
next five to eight years,” she said. “If this pilot is successful, we
may then consider a co-investment platform for retail investors in
perhaps eight to 10 years’ time.”
‘Pretty Huge Investments’
Temasek was also looking for long-term investors, Ho added.
“You’ve got to balance the conflict between the interests of
shareholders and that of the state, which may not always be the same,”
said David Cohen, director of Asian economic forecasting at Action
Economics in Singapore. “I imagine that Temasek could attract some
pretty huge investments.”
Temasek is the biggest shareholder in five of Singapore’s 10 biggest
publicly traded companies by market value, including Singapore
Telecommunications Ltd., Southeast Asia’s biggest phone company, and
DBS Group Holdings Ltd., the region’s largest bank by assets.
Ho said financial sector investments will still form part of Temasek’s
core holdings. Temasek is still “fairly comfortable” in the financial
sector.
The fund, in the first quarter, sold its 3.8 percent stake in Bank of
America Corp., which bought Merrill Lynch, at a loss that may have
totaled $4.6 billion. Temasek sold its stake in London-based Barclays
at a loss in December and January, Reuters reported on June 3, citing
people familiar with the matter.
Temasek was founded in 1974 to foster development of the island’s
banks, airlines and ports. It owns shares of the island’s biggest bank
and its largest telephone company.
-----------------
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“We don’t intend to raid the larder nor sell the family jewels for short-term gains,” Ho said.
It's all one big family over here in Singapore.
Goodyear not included in the family, so too bad.
The way the topic was phrased kinda made me laugh
* Temasek sees opportunities in Latin America, food, energy
* Temasek looking for internal, external CEO candidates
* CEO says staff will get "negative bonuses" this year
By Saeed Azhar and Kevin Lim
SINGAPORE, July 29 (Reuters) - Singapore state investor
Temasek said its portfolio slid by at least $27 billion, or
more than a fifth, in the year to March but it will stick with
banks and sees opportunities in food and energy.
The fund saw potential in Asia and Latin America and was
comfortable with financial services as its core portfolio
holding, despite being hurt by the market meltdown last year
after its high profile investments in Western banks, CEO Ho
Ching said on Wednesday.
"At this point, we are still comfortable with the financial
sector as a sector that reflects the key economies we are
interested in," Ho said at a seminar.
She acknowledged, however, that the increased regulation of
the financial sector may result in the rate of returns falling.
"In terms of sectors specifically, we are agnostic, we
don't have a sectoral target," she said, adding the fund would
look at food and energy but without giving further details.
These were the first public comments by Ho, also the wife
of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, after Temasek said
last week that Charles "Chip" Goodyear will not become CEO due
to differences over strategy.
With 40 percent of its holdings in financials, Temasek's
portfolio lost nearly a third in the eight months to November,
sparking unprecedented criticism in Singapore about its
strategy.
Ho did not give the exact portfolio level as of March 2009.
"In our Temasek Review last year, we reported an annual
value-at-risk of almost S$40 billion ($27.8 billion) last
March. This meant a 16 percent probability for our portfolio
value to drop more than S$40 billion by March this year.
Indeed, it has turned out to be so, and more," Ho said in a
speech.
Temasek had S$185 billion in assets as of end-March 2008,
which fell to S$127 billion as of November 2008. For a factbox
on Temasek, which has stakes in Standard Chartered (STAN.L) and
Bank of China.
Goodyear was widely expected to trim Temasek's financial
holdings and move aggressively into commodities and energy and
into emerging market infrastructure and consumer retail
sectors, analysts and bankers have said.
Ho said Temasek would continue to look at internal and
external candidates for her replacement.
Goodyear's departure came less than six months after he was
named by Temasek as the sovereign wealth fund's first foreign
CEO. He would have replaced Ho on Oct 1.
hahahah, finally they ask public to throw money to temasick, wahahahahha, so pathetic, now needs public fund , wahahahhaha