SINGAPORE, July 13 – Singapore’s Temasek Holdings reported a 25 percent increase in its portfolio value to a record $ 381 billion in March 2021, with profits driven by a global equity rally and the public listing of some of its holdings.
One of the largest investors in the world, Temasek is anchored in Asia, with 64 percent exposure to the region based on the underlying assets of its portfolio companies, most of which are based in China and Singapore.
The increase in portfolio value was the highest in a decade, following a 2.2 percent decline last year, with the state investor making record investments and sales last year, Temasek executives said at a press conference on Tuesday (July 13) .
“The pandemic has accelerated the longer-term trends that shape our investment stance. This is especially true of the digitization trend, ”said Mukul Chawla, joint head of Temasek’s telecommunications, media and technology investments.
Chawla said the move to work from home created a demand for online services, payments, digital health and technology platforms, and led some of Temasek’s privately held companies to go public.
Airbnb and food delivery company Doordash were some of Temasek’s portfolio companies that were listed.
Diego Lopez, Managing Director of the sovereign wealth fund tracker Global SWF, described Temasek’s performance as “very robust”.
He said Temasek may not have benefited as much from the rally in US stocks as some other global investors because it is a more strategic investor.
Temasek’s increase in investments by more than 50 percent shows the strength and expertise to seize opportunities in the market when they arise, Lopez said.
In Temasek’s Chinese technology portfolio, ride-hailing giant Didi Global and Alibaba fintech subsidiary Ant Group have become targets of regulatory crackdowns in recent months.
“We pay attention to regulation and regulation not only in China. So I don’t think it changes our attitude towards China in any way, ”said Chawla. “We’ll keep investing, we’ll consider regulation when it comes out.”
In contrast to many government investors, Temasek mainly invests in stocks, with unlisted assets accounting for 45 percent of the total portfolio.
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MSCI’s Asian stock index excluding Japan rose 55 percent for the year ended March 31, 2021, and Singapore’s Straits Times index rose 28 percent.
The rally also boosted Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, which posted record investment returns this month.
Temasek’s major public holdings include DBS Group, China Construction Bank, Alibaba Group, and Standard Chartered.
Temasek’s one-year total shareholder return rose to 24.5 percent in the course of the year to March, after minus 2.28 percent in the previous year.
The largest proportion of Temasek’s new investments last year was again in America, followed by Singapore and China.
