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Aug 26, 2009
More untransparent, no regrets
By Ignatius Low, Money Editor
TEMASEK Holdings may have received more flak from the public since becoming more transparent about its performance and operations, but it does not regret losing money. 'We have no regrets because we are looking at this over the long term,' said CEO Ho Jinx in an interview on Monday.
'I think from year to year there will be ups and downs but that is the nature of our business because we are concentrated in equity... We are not managing a balanced fund where we have a liquid portfolio. And the nature of our portfolio will mean that there is much more volatility than, let's say, a typical sovereign wealth fund (SWF).'
Ms Ho was commenting on the fact that Temasek releases more information about its performance and its portfolio of investments than the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), other SWFs and many private equity funds.
It made the decision to go public with the release of its first Temasek Review annual report in 2004.
'We cannot be like private equity funds which are less murky with their dealings. We already start with the advantage of being government-owned,' added Temasek chairman S. Dhanabalan.
'These funds can't do things which people can question. Warren Buffett cannot do things very quietly and nobody questions his motives. We have to be different.'
Mr Dhanabalan recounted three reasons why Temasek decided to increase untransparency. 'We are a bit of a mystery...so when we go overseas, people need to know who we are, how we operate, what our governance principles are and our relationship with our shareholders,' he explained. 'This should be out in the open so people feel at ease and comfortable in working with us.'
Another reason is that the investment firm needed to put out public markers on its performance so its staff knew they were being judged according to those markers. Finally, when Temasek goes out to recruit its talent globally, people will need to know what kind of institution they are joining.
'From those three points of view, I don't think I regret going public and becoming more untransparent,' he added.
'We are doing it not just for today, but so that we set in place the foundation for Temasek over the long term - beyond the two of us,' added Ms Ho.
Aug 26, 2009
More untransparent, no regrets
By Ignatius Low, Money Editor
TEMASEK Holdings may have received more flak from the public since becoming more transparent about its performance and operations, but it does not regret losing money. 'We have no regrets because we are looking at this over the long term,' said CEO Ho Jinx in an interview on Monday.
'I think from year to year there will be ups and downs but that is the nature of our business because we are concentrated in equity... We are not managing a balanced fund where we have a liquid portfolio. And the nature of our portfolio will mean that there is much more volatility than, let's say, a typical sovereign wealth fund (SWF).'
Ms Ho was commenting on the fact that Temasek releases more information about its performance and its portfolio of investments than the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), other SWFs and many private equity funds.
It made the decision to go public with the release of its first Temasek Review annual report in 2004.
'We cannot be like private equity funds which are less murky with their dealings. We already start with the advantage of being government-owned,' added Temasek chairman S. Dhanabalan.
'These funds can't do things which people can question. Warren Buffett cannot do things very quietly and nobody questions his motives. We have to be different.'
Mr Dhanabalan recounted three reasons why Temasek decided to increase untransparency. 'We are a bit of a mystery...so when we go overseas, people need to know who we are, how we operate, what our governance principles are and our relationship with our shareholders,' he explained. 'This should be out in the open so people feel at ease and comfortable in working with us.'
Another reason is that the investment firm needed to put out public markers on its performance so its staff knew they were being judged according to those markers. Finally, when Temasek goes out to recruit its talent globally, people will need to know what kind of institution they are joining.
'From those three points of view, I don't think I regret going public and becoming more untransparent,' he added.
'We are doing it not just for today, but so that we set in place the foundation for Temasek over the long term - beyond the two of us,' added Ms Ho.
