Singapore - GIC, Temasek & MAS 02 (Sep 09 - Jul 11)

[kennynah]

ho ching stepped down as CEO of temasek... but she never uttered any words of apologies nor showed any remorse...

during a media press conference, ho ching, incoming ceo and dhana were present.. of cos, this was after the spectacular multi-billion losses of failed investments...

here's the question fielded to ho ching and her answer :

************

Yoolim Lee (Bloomberg): Question for Ho Ching. What are your biggest achievements and regrets during your leadership in Temasek?

Ho Ching: I am not a person who looks back to try and justify a reason for my leaving. I am a person who looks forward. In any case for anybody in any stage of their life, they will weigh what they want to do. At this point I am not weighing anything that I want to do post-October, my focus is still Temasek.

Is there a regret? Well, I think if you want to run life with regrets, you may end up doing very little. For us it’s looking at the issues, looking at the pros and cons, dealing with the decision and then dealing with the consequences. At the end of the day, what we hope to achieve is to put in place something that goes beyond us that goes from one generation to the next generation and hopefully carry the values, carry the sort of commitment that we have seen in Temasek, that we hope it will continue in Temasek through the different generations.

When you look at any issue, there are always pros and cons, and I think on balance the main thing that I am very happy with, very pleased with, is that I have had the privilege of working with a wonderful team without whom we would not have achieved what we have. We have a strong balance sheet, this was built up over the years and we continue to build on it. I’ve got a very, very active board which engages with the management very intensely as and when the need arises. Most of all I am actually very delighted that between myself and a couple of my colleagues, and Chip’s wife, we persuaded him to join Temasek.

[winston]

SDP: How much has GIC lost in bad investments? By Aaron Low

THE Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) candidate for Holland Bukit Timah GRC, Mr Tan Jee Say, raised the issue of transparency of government funds, saying that people still do not know how much the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) has lost in bad investments.

Speaking to a crowd that filled almost three-quarters of a football field at Jurong East stadium, he attacked the Government for not releasing the full figures of its official reserves.

He had been taken to task by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Thursday for saying that his own $60 billion economic plan for Singapore was 'small change'.

According to his calculations, Mr Tan said that the Government had accumulated hundreds of billions of dollars in surpluses over the last decade and $60 billion was just a small percentage of that.

He also attacked Dr Balakrishnan over the Youth Olympic Games budget, which ballooned by $300 million.

'Manage your own ministry's budget before you criticise other people's figures!' he said.

Mr Tan's running mate Vincent Wijeysingha, 41, also took aim at DPM Teo, who had said that the government reserves were a source of comfort for Singaporeans.

'Teddy bears are for comfort. We need affordable housing, support for our elderly and our young!' said Dr Wijeysingha.

Education was also another hot topic for SDP on Friday night, as speakers hit out at the education system.

Its candidate for Yuhua, Ms Teo Soh Lung, 61, said that the education system has not progressed since she was a child, noting that the class size of about 40 has not changed.

She noted that many parents continued to rely on tuition because they were worried that without tuition, their children would not pass exams.

What does this say about our education system, she asked, challenging her Yuhua PAP opponent Grace Fu for an answer.

http://www.straitstimes.com/GeneralElec ... 62807.html

[winston]

GIC's annual return last 30 yrs comparable to equities' 10.2 pct

SINGAPORE, May 9 (Reuters) - The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has achieved returns comparable to equities since its inception 30 years ago, but with less risk, Chairman Lee Kuan Yew said on Monday.

"Compared with the popular high-return asset class of equities, which returned 10.2 percent per annum in U.S. dollar terms since 1981, the GIC portfolio made comparable returns with lesser risk, Lee said at a dinner to mark the sovereign wealth fund's 30th anniversary.

He added the returns outpaced global inflation by a comfortable margin.

"The next 30 years looks challenging (and) the investment outlook could be less benign," said Lee, Singapore's first prime minister and the father of current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

GIC, one of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, manages around $300 billion. Its investments include stakes in UBS and Citigroup , which it helped rescue in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

GIC said in September last year it managed an average return of 7.1 percent a year in U.S. dollar terms in the 20 years to March 2010, up from 5.7 percent per annum for the two decades ended March 2009.

Lee said the global economic environment appeared "unusually uncertain".

"It will take time to work through the full consequences of the crisis, such as the huge amount of debt the developed world has taken on," Lee said, adding the turmoil in the Middle East has elevated geopolitical risks.

Lee said GIC must be prepared to take decisions that may appear unconventional to perform better than its peers.

"As GIC grows larger and more established, the impetus to follow conventional practices will grow stronger. This could lead to mediocrity."


Source: Reuters

[winston]

Singapore's Temasek chief likely to step down in August - FT

SINGAPORE, June 9 (Reuters) - The Chief Executive of Singapore's state investor Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL], Ho Ching, is likely to step down in August, Financial Times reported on Thursday citing sources familiar with the matter.

Ho Ching, the wife of Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has been executive director at the company since May 2002 and chief executive since January 2004.

The company decline to comment on the report.

Temasek is expected to release its annual report next month.

Last year, the company posted a 43 percent increase in the value of its portfolio to S$186 billion. [ID:nSGE66708P] The company named former BHP Billiton Chief Executive Charles Goodyear as designated successor to Ho in 2009, but he left the company a few months after, citing differences in strategy.

Temasek's focus on Asia, particularly at home in Singapore, increased in the 2009/10 financial year, and it said that strategy would be maintained for the forseeable future, given volatility in other world markets.

It has said 78 percent of its portfolio was in Asia as of end-March, up from 74 percent a year earlier. Investments in developed economies dropped to 20 percent from 22 percent.

Source: Reuters

[kennynah]

Good riddance

[iam802]

Good riddance

[winston]

Did Temasek Holdings misrepresent $40bn investment profits?

Multi-billionaire Warren Buffett has endorsed my financial expertise well before I reviewed Temasek Holding’s annual reports. Buffett’s endorsement of my expertise has been authenticated and published in a McGraw-Hill book by a former journalist who has known Buffett for many years. The book is available in institutions worldwide like Harvard and National University of Singapore Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library.

For years, I assumed that Temasek Holding’s summary data on its investment profits are beyond human error. However, when I finally looked up the annual reports, many questions arise that call for superurgent review by the Singapore Government.

Our Government has won global praises and respect by being willing to identify and admit even the mistakes of organizations under its oversight. On this basis, can the Singapore Government please examine evidences that Temasek Holdings may have misrecorded its investment profits by $40 billion or more?

Will the reputation of Singapore and the pride of many Singaporeans be damaged if such a GIGANTIC mistake is allowed to persist?

Page 22 of the 2010 Temasek Holdings Report and page 16 of the 2006 Report both show a sharp rise in Temasek market value in 1993 from less than $20 billion to more than $60 billion. This is attributed to the listing of SINGTEL. Was this rise of more than $40 billion misrecorded as investment profits?

Was SINGTEL transfered to Temasek in the same year 1993 at an extremely low book value before listing rather than at fair market value? Isn’t “inherited money” supposed to be recorded as capital infusions instead? What was the precise amount that might be misrecorded? Was it $41 billion, $48 billion, $53 billion or $61 billion?

To see why certain accounting is questionable, let us look at a hypothetical AAA fund manager with a wealthy uncle called Sam. Mr. AAA inherited a GIFTEL company in 1993 from Uncle Sam with a market value of $60 billion. However, the historical book value of GIFTEL was only $20 billion.

Hence, GIFTEL was transfered into Mr. AAA’s portfolio at the historical value of only $20 billion. In the same year 1993, GIFTEL was listed on the stock exchange with a market value of $60 billion. Mr. AAA delightfully attributed the $40 billion rise in value of his portfolio from $20 billion to $60 billion to his supreme fund management skill.

Is it morally right or wrong for Mr. AAA to treat the inherited money of $40 billion as performance profits? If it is wrong for Mr. AAA to do so, why should it be alright for Temasek to do the same? Isn’t it necessary for Mr. AAA to treat the $40 billion rise in value as capital infusion rather than performance profits?

Why did Temasek fail to treat the $40 billion or higher rise in value during listing as capital infusions also? This is especially so when SINGTEL was transfered to Temasek only in 1993 – the same year SINGTEL was listed. (Page 98 of 2008 Temasek Report)

The above illustrates that inherited money must never be recorded as performance profits. Moreover, SINGTEL did not rise in multi-billion dollars value within one single year. It took many years of toil, sweat, tears and intelligence of many people for this to happen. Has Temasek taken over the credit that belongs to the tough work and smart work of many other people by a mere accounting stroke?

Are there any other companies besides SINGTEL that might have boosted Temasek’s performance record in a controversial manner? Shouldn’t Temasek revamp its accounting to take away the effects of the many billion dollars worth of “inherited money” on its portfolio performance?

Sincerely,
J.P. Tan
.
Source: The above article has been published on many online forums, including but not limited to HWZ, SBF and multiple facebook pages.

[winston]

Temasek's Ho has told staff she is not leaving-sources

SINGAPORE, Jun 20 (Reuters) - Ho Ching, the chief executive of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL], has told her staff internally that she is not leaving the company, two sources said, dismissing a recent news report that she may leave in August.

"HC (Ho Ching) told the staff internally she is not leaving," said one of the sources with knowledge of the matter.

A report in the Financial Times earlier this month said that Ho was likely to step down in August. [ID:nL3E7H907Z] Ho, the wife of Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has been executive director at the company since May 2002 and chief executive since January 2004.

The sources said Ho told staff that if she had to leave on a "high note", she could have done so last year when Temasek's portfolio had more than recovered from the financial crisis.

A Temasek spokesman declined to comment on the news.

Temasek's portfolio rose 43 percent year-on-year to S$186 billion or $134 billion at the end of March 2010.

[ID:nSGC003652] The sources declined to be named because the information was not public.

Source: Reuters

[kennynah]

very seldom will people in absolute power relinquish their strangle hold on them.

whoever outside the familee who sits at the helm will have an idea the amount of reserves we have... now, don't you think lky won't allow for that to ever happen while he is still alive?

i said this many times before..what we dont know we have, we wont ever know how much it's been clandestinely taken away

[winston]

Singapore GIC executive director Tony Tan resigns

SINGAPORE, Jun 23 (Reuters) - Tony Tan, executive director at Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, said on Thursday he has resigned and will run for president in an election that must be held before end-August.

Tan, a former deputy prime minister, said at a media conference that his resignation will be effective from July 1.

Although mostly ceremonial, Singapore's president has powers to veto senior appointments to the civil service and government-linked firms such as GIC, which manages around $250 billion, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.

Source: Reuters