Assets of Singapore’s sovereign investment fund Temasek Holdings slowed in the year to March as Asian holdings weighed on the performance as it boosted its exposure to Europe and the US amid economic recoveries.
The value of Temasek’s holdings increased 3.7 per cent, less than half the growth the previous year, to a record $S223 billion ($US179 billion) compared with $S215 billion, it said in its latest annual report. Total shareholder return for the period, which includes dividends, shrunk to 1.5 per cent from 8.9 per cent in its previous fiscal year…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. increased its investments in the year ended in March to the highest since the global financial crisis, even as weaker markets in Asia slowed the growth of its portfolio, which touched a record 223 billion Singapore dollars (US$179 billion).
Singapore’s state-investment company invested S$24 billion, up 20% from the preceding year, as it capitalized on opportunities from an uneven global economic recovery, according to its latest annual report released Tuesday…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore’s state-investment firm remained upbeat on Asian economies, where it sealed half its new investments in the past fiscal year, even as it trawled the US and Europe for investments. It continues to favour companies in the financial services, life ­sciences, energy and consumer-product sectors.
Fiscal-year net profit rose slightly to $S10.9 billion ($9.3bn) from $S10.6bn a year earlier, Temasek said. Its portfolio value during the period grew 3.7 per cent to a record $S223bn, from $S215bn a year earlier…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd said its portfolio grew by 3.72 percent in the last financial year, slower than the previous year, due to a drop in the value of its bank holdings which include Standard Chartered PLC.
Temasek reported on Tuesday its portfolio size had increased to a record S$223 billion ($179 billion) in its last financial year that ended in March. Last financial year, Temasek’s portfolio grew 8.6 percent…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore state fund Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. released its performance review for the 2014 fiscal year on Tuesday. The firm has a lot of influence as one of Asia’s biggest investors. So, what did it get up to over the past year?
Temasek says it made S$24 billion (about US$19.2 billion) of new investments and divested S$10 billion in the year through March, writing that it sought “to take advantage of market weakness in Asia.” It invested the most in the financial services, life sciences and energy sectors, according to the review…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Despite last year’s global stock market rally, Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, generated a shareholder return of just 1.5 percent for the 12 months ended March 31, hurt by its focus on Singapore and China.
“It’s nothing to do the dance of joy over, but it’s still squeezing a positive TSR (total shareholder return)” despite “paper losses” on its equity holdings,” said Song Seng Wun, head of research at CIMB. “On the plus side, hopefully, is that the new net investment will help future earnings,” he said, but added he expects it will take a while for the China rebalancing story to play out…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Temasek Holdings is optimistic about China’s prospects, and said it will continue to invest in Chinese banks. Speaking at a briefing on its performance for the 12 months ended March 2014, the Singapore investment firm said Chinese banks are a good proxy for the long term growth of the world’s second largest economy.
As for concerns on shadow banking in China, Temasek said it is closely monitoring this, and that the Chinese government has put in place measures to address the issue. Wu Yibing, head (China) of Temasek Holdings, said: “Overall we see they have plenty of policy headroom and also plenty of political will to address these questions…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore’s sovereign investor Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd said yesterday it intends to keep investing in Chinese banks even as it reported a slowdown in its portfolio growth due to a drop in the value of some of its bank holdings.
Temasek, headed by Ho Ching, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, owns a six per cent stake in China Construction Bank and a two per cent stake in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. It also has holdings in other banks, including a stake of just under 18 per cent in British bank Standard Chartered…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Temasek Holdings released its latest annual report on Tuesday, a colourful 104-page report packed with facts, figures and financial indicators.
For those who don’t have time to pore through the entire Temasek Review 2014, we’ve picked out seven charts that best summarise Temasek’s performance last year: Temasek’s net portfolio value - the total value of its assets - rose 3.7 per cent from $215 billion last year to a new record of $223 billion as at March 31. However, $5 billion of this increase was an injection of fresh funds from the Finance Ministry, Temasek’s sole shareholder. ………………………………….Full Article: Source

No need to have a heart attack about China’s financial system, says Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings. The $192 billion investor loves banks, keeping nearly a third of its assets in financial firms. There are stakes in China Construction Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China , not to mention big chunks of non-Chinese banks such as Standard Chartered and Singapore’s DBS.
Temasek had a subpar year, with a total return of just 1.5%, below its cost of capital, weighed down by Asia’s crummy stock markets. Temasek’s executives were sanguine Tuesday at the annual release of its results that China’s banks had ample capability to weather a financial storm. Nevertheless, it can’t hurt to hedge your bets…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Noting that some grassroots leaders and others have questioned why the Government does not get the GIC to directly manage Central Provident Fund (CPF) monies, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam explained yesterday that should the GIC do so, it will need a very conservative portfolio without the ability to invest over the long term and ride out market cycles.
This is because the GIC would have to focus on ensuring that it is able to meet the Government’s full obligations on the CPF every year, said Mr Tharman, who is also Finance Minister. The conservative portfolio the GIC would have to manage would not invest much in equities and certainly not in real estate, he added…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tanzania is on course to establish a Sovereign Wealth Fund to manage proceeds from oil and gas finds, but experts caution that to reap maximum benefits from its resources, the country must have in place effective mechanisms to foster good governance and transparency.
The caution comes amid recent findings by the New York -based Revenue Watch Institute (RWI) and the Vale Columbia Centre on Sustainable International Investment (VCC), revealing that vast sums of money made from the extraction of oil, gas, and minerals–much of it in resource-rich countries where most citizens are nonetheless impoverished–are poorly managed and off limits from the oversight of civil society and the media…………………………………..Full Article: Source

The goals of Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), which include providing a countercyclical rainy day fund, as well as savings for future generations is being threatened by political bickering and oil revenue leakages.
While the SWF announced last month that it made capital gains of N1.2 billion ($7.75 million) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2014 representing 0.5 percent return on total capital of $1.55 billion, the need to grow the fund through regular monthly transfers by the Government has failed to materialise…………………………………..Full Article: Source