PAPee: Temasek Most Transparent SWFxxx

[makapaaa]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Temasek's assets rise to $185b (But how much of it has been lost???)<!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Grace Ng
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->TEMASEK Holdings' assets rose to S$185 billion as at March 31 from S$164 billion a year ago, said its chairman S. Dhanabalan on Thursday.

Speaking at a luncheon organised by entrepreneurs network TiE Singapore, he said Temasek, which already owns large stakes in lenders such as Merrill Lynch and Barclays, was prepared to invest more money in Western banks if the opportunity arose.
Mr Dhanabalan said Temasek is different from other sovereign funds as it does not manage national reserves. Rather it is a holding company for stakes in companies such as Singapore Telecommunications and Singapore Airlines, formerly held by the Government.
It also sets "the gold standard for transparency" with Norway's sovereign wealth funds, he added.
Temasek said in its annual report for the financial year to March 2007 that its assets stood at S$164 billion. It will release its 2007/2008 annual report next Tuesday.
The Singapore government had injected a little under S$30 billion in assets and cash into Temasek since it was set up in 1974, Mr Dhanabalan said.
Temasek, the smaller of Singapore's two wealth funds, has been seeking investments outside its core markets of Asia excluding Japan in search of higher returns and to diversify its portfolio.
In his address, Mr Dhanabalan said Singapore and Asia account for nearly 75 per cent of Temasek's investments, down from 78 per cent reported a year earlier.
He said Temasek aims to have in the long run about one third of its assets in Singapore, another one third in emerging markets and the remainder in the developed markets. It is recruiting staff for new offices in Mexico and Brazil that will be set up this year .

 

[Cestbon]

Nice photo. Even donkey find it hard to pull the cart!. Ha ha ha............

 

[Lentor]

are the assets based on the "chop carrot heads" buy price for big time losses in barclays, Merill Lynch, UBS, Shin Corp..etc?

this is not quite transparent, as those assets are now probably worth less than half of what those clowns paid for.

 

[bigbossman]

It is recruiting staff for new offices in Mexico and Brazil that will be set up this year .

Join Temasek for a posting in Mexico and Brazil ?

 

[Erudio]

Aug 22, 2008
Temasek assets grow to $185b
$21b added despite tough year and plunge in Merrill stake
By Grace Ng

TEMASEK Holdings's assets grew 13 per cent to $185 billion in its latest financial year, despite a turbulent period for equity markets.

The growth comes amid a freefall in the market value of troubled Western banks like Merrill Lynch, of which the Singapore sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is the largest shareholder.

Chairman S. Dhanabalan noted that Temasek knew it was likely to lose money in the short term when it invested in Merill a few months ago. But the investment is sound over a horizon of five to seven years, he said.

Temasek is also prepared to invest more money in Western banks if opportunities arise, he told 180 executives at an event organised by TiE Singapore, a network of entrepreneurs.

Temasek, which is solely owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, has added $21 billion to the market value of its net portfolio over the year to end March.

Gov agency = Biz entity ??!?!?!?!?!?

It delivered 17 per cent total returns on shareholder funds over the period, sustaining its compound annual growth rate of 17 per cent since its inception in 1974.

'Temasek's 13 per cent growth in assets is very strong given the tough market conditions,' said Mr Adrian Gmuer, Asia business head of hedge fund house RMF.

Mr Gmuer noted that the HFRI Emerging Markets Global Index rose 11 per cent in the year to March 31. This tracks the performance of hedge funds that, like Temasek, are exposed to growth markets in Asia, Latin America and elsewhere.

Mr Dhanabalan also revealed that Singapore and Asia account for nearly 75 per cent of Temasek's investments.

He disclosed these figures ahead of the release of Temasek's annual review next Tuesday - its fifth since 2004.

The review will be closely watched by Singaporeans and global investors, as it will be the first time Temasek will report on its performance amid a credit crisis touted to be the worst since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

But Mr Dhanabalan said Temasek has weathered rough times before: 'We have been around for more than three decades, we have seen the ups and downs of several economic cycles.

'Every time I go through a cycle...it's like the end of the world. I asked myself, in 1973 during the oil shock, what will the world look like five years from now?

'Looking back now, it was just a little blip,' he said, adding that he hoped the current problems would not be 'too severe a downturn'.

The credit crunch allowed Temasek to take a significant stake in major institutions like Merrill Lynch at 'attractive prices', which would not have been possible 'under normal circumstances', he noted.

'We also knew that likely the (share) price may go below what we had invested at,' he said. Merrill's share price has fallen 55 per cent since last Dec 24, when it first announced Temasek's investment.

'But we are looking at it for five to seven years,' he said, adding that the investment will boost the value of Temasek's portfolio in the 'long term'.

It will take another year or two to be certain whether Merrill Lynch will pull through the crisis, noted Mr Hugh Young, managing director of Aberdeen Asset Management Singapore.

'But a five- to seven-year horizon is ample time for Merrill to rebuild itself, and Temasek can wait since it is a long-term investor,' he said.

Mr Dhanabalan noted that there is 'fear and suspicion' about SWFs, as they are perceived by some to lack governance and may make politically-motivated investments in key foreign companies.

He asserted that Temasek is differentiated from other SWFs in terms of its ownership, accountability and transparency.

Temasek is 'neither a part of the Government's policy arm nor do we invest Singapore's foreign reserves', he said.

Instead, it operates as 'an autonomous and professional' owner and manager of its assets and investments.

Temasek also follows the regulations that apply to any company in Singapore, he added. The country's Constitution ensures fiscal discipline in how the national wealth held by Temasek is used.

Thirdly Temasek is 'arguably one of the most transparent privately owned companies around'. It is recognised by US policy makers as setting 'the gold standard in transparency' together with Norway's SWF, said Mr Dhanabalan.

[email protected]

 

[Hakka Tiow]

Wah! Brilliant! The generals of our SAF who obviously must be cut from the same cloth, adopting these tactics will surely be able to raise the morale our NS slaves in war. After all cannon fodder is inexhaustible in Sinkapore.

 

[suteerak1099]

they talk so much about growth.... bt my main concern is the balance sheets.

wat about the losses incurred so far? have they managed to recoup the losses, prior to the profits.... or did they merely write-off the losses & started on a fresh page?