Temasek Said to Start Multibillion Dollar Investment Company
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By Netty Ismail and Bei Hu
Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore’s state investment firm, is setting up a wholly owned multibillion dollar investment company with its own money, three people with knowledge of the matter said.
Seatown Holdings International will employ a multistrategy to invest in assets from stocks to bonds, targeting absolute returns, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Charles Ong, chief strategist at Temasek, is the chief executive officer, the people said. Nasser Ahmad, co-founder of New York-based DiMaio Ahmad Capital LLC, a hedge-fund firm specializing in credit products, is the co-chief executive officer, they said.
Temasek, which managed S$172 billion ($121 billion) as of July 31, may be seeking to boost its returns as hedge funds had their best annual performance in six years in 2009. Temasek has had an annual return of 16 percent since its inception in 1974, according to its annual report announced in September, down from 18 percent annualized it reported August 2008.
The size of the hedge fund may be $3 billion, AsianInvestor reported on its Web Site earlier today. Temasek spokesman Jeffrey Fang declined to comment.
Temasek, which means sea-town in Javanese, is an ancient name of Singapore dating from the 15th century.
Temasek also has a fund-management unit, Fullerton Fund Management Co., which invests in hedge funds.
The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index, tracking more than 2,000 funds, rose 19 percent in 2009, according to Eurekahedge Pte, a Singapore-based research firm. The annual return was the highest since 2003, when the index rose 21 percent.
Hedge funds are private, largely unregulated pools of capital whose managers can buy or sell any assets, bet on their falling as well as rising values and participate substantially in profits from money invested.
To contact the reporter on this story: Netty Ismail in Singapore
Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print | A A A
By Netty Ismail and Bei Hu
Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore’s state investment firm, is setting up a wholly owned multibillion dollar investment company with its own money, three people with knowledge of the matter said.
Seatown Holdings International will employ a multistrategy to invest in assets from stocks to bonds, targeting absolute returns, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Charles Ong, chief strategist at Temasek, is the chief executive officer, the people said. Nasser Ahmad, co-founder of New York-based DiMaio Ahmad Capital LLC, a hedge-fund firm specializing in credit products, is the co-chief executive officer, they said.
Temasek, which managed S$172 billion ($121 billion) as of July 31, may be seeking to boost its returns as hedge funds had their best annual performance in six years in 2009. Temasek has had an annual return of 16 percent since its inception in 1974, according to its annual report announced in September, down from 18 percent annualized it reported August 2008.
The size of the hedge fund may be $3 billion, AsianInvestor reported on its Web Site earlier today. Temasek spokesman Jeffrey Fang declined to comment.
Temasek, which means sea-town in Javanese, is an ancient name of Singapore dating from the 15th century.
Temasek also has a fund-management unit, Fullerton Fund Management Co., which invests in hedge funds.
The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index, tracking more than 2,000 funds, rose 19 percent in 2009, according to Eurekahedge Pte, a Singapore-based research firm. The annual return was the highest since 2003, when the index rose 21 percent.
Hedge funds are private, largely unregulated pools of capital whose managers can buy or sell any assets, bet on their falling as well as rising values and participate substantially in profits from money invested.
To contact the reporter on this story: Netty Ismail in Singapore
