In a move that has shocked the industry, Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, has selected Charles “Chip” Goodyear, CEO of Mining Giant BHP Billiton (until September 2007), to head the US$124 bn fund.
Chip replaces Ho Ching, the wife of Singapore’s Prime Minister, who oversaw reforms in the fund which began as a sleepy enterprise holding mostly Singapore-based companies like Singapore Airlines and DBS to the international giant it is now holding 19% of Standard Chartered, 4 – 8% of the 4 Leading Chinese Banks and 9% of Merril Lynch (Temasek Holdings Portfolio Highlights: Link Here).
The choice continues a trend which has resulted in 40% of senior management in Temasek Holdings being Non-Singaporean and could be in line with the fund’s aims to dissuade proponents of the idea that the fund has been used to further Political agendas of the Singapore Government with Ho Ching being so closely associated with the state’s Prime Minister.
The installation of Mr. Goodyear in October this year could also herald a new direction for the fund which has traditionally invested heavily in the global financial sector. Observers believe that with Mr. Goodyear, Temasek Holdings will now focus more attention on the Mining and Resources sector (currently only 5% of the funds portfolio) with the future of the Financial Sector remaining turbulent.
Could this also mean a more sustainable approach to investing with Chip’s former firm BHP Billiton making it the “Top 100 Sustainable Corporations” list released at Davos previously blogged (link here) ? We can be idealists and hope.
More Here: Financial Times
Previous Article on Sovereign Wealth Funds: EvolvingChoice
Temasek Holdings Portfolio Highlights: Link Here
The news quickly made the headlines in Singapore Blogs: “Ho Ching is Out of Temasek!”, SGPolitics, Singapore News Alternative, A Poem for Ho Ching
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