Founding father of modern Singapore and the Minister Mentor Mr. Lee Kuan Yew talks in this interview video with Bloomberg in May 2008 about the objectives of Singapore's Govt. of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) or more commonly called 'Temasek':
- Transparency is not necessarily a good thing for Temasek in order to reduce people's expectations and to prevent people speculating what GIC moves will be next.
- GIC (Temasek) is long-term investor with at least 5-10 years investment horizon.
- Temasek invests in distressed assets for the long-term.

Source: IRTAGMedia, Bloomberg, YouTube

About Temasek:

Singapore's Temasek is a USD $159.2 billion investment company owned by the government of Singapore. Singapore's Ministry of Finance is Temasek's only shareholder. With a multinational staff of more than 300 people, it manages a portfolio of about S$185 billion, or more than US$127 billion, focused primarily in Asia. It is an active shareholder and investor in such sectors as banking & financial services, real estate, transportation & logistics, infrastructure, telecommunications & media, bioscience & healthcare, education, consumer & lifestyle, engineering & technology, as well as energy & resources. In 2008, The Economist reported that Morgan Stanley had estimated the fund's assets at US$159.2 billion.

The company claimed in 2008 that it is not a sovereign wealth fund, with its spokesman saying the company "has to sell assets to raise cash for new investments and doesn't require the government to give approvals". Temasek was able to be excluded from an agreement between Singapore and the United States requiring greater disclosure and transparency in transactions involving sovereign wealth funds, which included the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), claiming it "already meets disclosure guidelines" and provides more details than sovereign wealth funds. There has been no public suggestion that the Singapore Government's granting of military facilities for the US Armed forces influenced the United States in its decision on this matter.

The company, along with its sister fund GIC (the Singapore government's second soverign wealth fund), has sought to distance itself in recent years from questionable business investments such as oil sector investments in Africa (Sudan in particular) and plantation investments in Indonesia (responsible for significant deforestation). The company shares in common with the Singapore national government a high focus on managing public perceptions of its activities.

Source: Wikipedia

Latest update on Temasek:

On Aug 26, 2008, Temasek said full-year profit doubled as sales of energy and Chinese banking assets countered slowing returns from stock market investments. Temasek's net income rose to a record S$18.2 billion ($12.8 billion) in the year ended March 31, up from S$9.1 billion a year earlier, Temasek said in its annual report released today. The company sold Tuas Power for S$4.24 billion in March. Profit exceeded the average 18 percent annual return on investment since Temasek's inception more than three decades ago. The fund attracted more money to buy stakes in companies including Merrill Lynch & Co. and Barclays Plc, whose shares tumbled as the credit market collapsed and about $9 trillion was erased from global stocks in the past year. Singapore's Ministry of Finance, Temasek's only shareholder, injected S$10 billion of capital, the company said today. The portfolio expanded 13 percent to S$185 billion in the year ended March from S$164 billion a year earlier, Temasek Chairman S. Dhanabalan said on Aug. 21, 2008.

Click here to read Temasek's latest financial update from Bloomberg.

Source: Bloomberg