(Oct 22): Temasek Singapore president Png Chin Yee is set to join the board of CapitaLand Investment Ltd, while chairman Miguel Ko is retiring from the real estate asset manager.
Png’s appointment as a non-independent director is effective from Jan 1, CapitaLand said in an exchange filing late Thursday, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News. Ko will be replaced on the same date by Hsieh Fu Hua, a former Temasek president who was appointed to the board as deputy chair in August.
“As CLI enters its next phase, our CEO, Lee Chee Koon, has my full support,” said Hsieh in a statement, referring to the firm by its common acronym. Hsieh, 75, who also sits on Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte’s board, said he will work closely with Lee and the management team “to address our strategic priorities and execute them with discipline.”
Ko will retire at the end of the year, along with director Gabriel Lim, a former civil servant who is now CEO of Temasek asset management arm Seviora Holdings, after they both complete their terms.
Png oversees so-called Temasek Portfolio Companies, which made up about 40% of state investor Temasek Holdings Pte’s S$518 billion (US$405 billion or RM1.6 trillion) investment portfolio as of March this year. She was previously Temasek’s chief financial officer before being appointed to her current role in April as part of an overhaul to boost returns, Bloomberg reported earlier.
Temasek owns 54% of Singapore-listed CapitaLand Investment, which had about S$128 billion in funds under management across more than 40 countries at the end of June. The company’s shares have tumbled by about a fifth in the past three years while the broader market has soared, giving it a market capitalisation of about US$9 billion. A big reason for the stock slump has been falling property valuations in China, where CapitaLand is heavily invested.
Temasek said in its most recent annual review in July that it has stepped up active engagement with its portfolio firms to “unlock value through strategic reviews, capital structure optimisation, restructuring, and transformational mergers & acquisitions.”
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