The Evolution of Sovereign Wealth Funds: Singapore’s Temasek Holdings

Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 6-14, 2009

13 Pages Posted: 27 Oct 2011

See all articles by Wilson Ng

Wilson Ng

IDRAC Business School, Campus de Lyon

Date Written: December 30, 2009

Abstract

Where there has been little in-depth understanding of sovereign wealth funds, this paper describes the complex nature of one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, Temasek Holdings (“Temasek”), whose “active” investment strategy has been emulated by a number of other funds. The paper draws mainly on public data in developing a case history of Temasek. Based on our data, we suggest how the firm’s underlying strategy seems to be about pursuing the national interests of its sovereign shareholder in both a commercial and non-commercial manner. Consistent with a case-based approach, the paper presents a single example of a sovereign wealth fund. The aggressive manner in which Temasek has built up its international portfolio coupled with the mixed impact of its “active” investment strategy raise a number of issues about the nature of an important sovereign wealth fund. The value of the paper is in its cogent, insightful picture of the development of a sovereign wealth fund that was a pioneer of this phenomenon.

Keywords: Temasek Holdings, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Investment Strategies, Corporate Governance, Emerging Markets, Shareholder Value

JEL Classification: F23

Suggested Citation

Ng, Wilson, The Evolution of Sovereign Wealth Funds: Singapore’s Temasek Holdings (December 30, 2009). Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 6-14, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1949478

Wilson Ng (Contact Author)

IDRAC Business School, Campus de Lyon ( email )

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Lyon, 69009
France
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