Some in the financial community warn that Temasek's strategy of buying big chunks of companies exposes it to potentially deep losses if markets turn.
"Temasek's strategy is similar to that of a big private equity investor and could well end up producing lower returns than the big index-tracking funds," said a former adviser to the firm. "You just can't become George Soros or Warren Buffett overnight."
Ho tends to avoid the media and has made few comments on Shin. When she addressed a Morgan Stanley conference in November 2006, with the Shin deal in the limelight, the bank told the media not to ask questions.
Even her age is considered off limits. A Temasek spokesman was unwilling to reveal her age or date of birth, although a Temasek bond document in 2005 said she was 52.
Ho began her career at the Ministry of Defense, where she met her husband, Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. While Lee took up a variety of cabinet positions, Ho moved to state-owned Singapore Technologies in 1987, running a mix of defense, technology, property and stock brokerages that she restructured, divesting some units and listing others.
Temasek's chairman, S. Dhanabalan, a former cabinet minister, asked her to head Temasek in 2002, telling local media at the time that Ho was "the best person for the job," that it had "nothing to do" with her being Lee's wife, and citing "a willingness on her part to take calculated risks."
Dhanabalan even referred to ST's purchase of disk drive maker Micropolis, which was liquidated soon afterwards with debts of 630 million Singapore dollars, saying Ho had had the courage to cut the losses.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/27/business/temasek.php