Temasek portfolio value shrinks by $27.75 billion; seeks outside capital

Singapore state-owned investment arm and sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings' portfolio value has shrunk by $27.75 billion due to the onslaught of the global financial turmoil. The fund is considering seeking outside capital from sophisticated co-investors and public by creating one more group of stakeholders.

In a speech at the Institute of Policy Studies in Singapore, Temasek chief executive Ho Ching said yesterday that Temasek suffered about S$40 billion ($27.75 billion) loss in its portfolio value in the financial year ended last March.

''In our Temasek Review last year, we reported an annual value-at-risk of almost S$40 billion last March. This meant a 16-per cent probability for our portfolio value to drop more than S$40 billion by March this year. Indeed, it had turned out to be so, and more.''

The latest figures reveal that Temasek was able to recoup some of the losses made during the beginning of the global financial crisis last year. Temasek had lost $39.91 billion in the value of its investments between March 2008 to November 2008. (See: Temasek loses $39.91 billion to the onslaught of global recession)

The sovereign wealth fund that manages a portfolio of over $127 billion as on November 2008, said that it is continuing with its hunt for a successor with the impending departure of CEO-designate and board member Charles "Chip" Goodyear.

The 51-year-old American, a product of Yale and Wharton School of Finance was also an investment banker for Kidder Peabody in the now defamed Wall Street and later the CEO of BHP Billiton, the world's second largest mining company after Vale of Brazil.