Temasek CEO Ho to leave; Goodyear set to take over

Temasek Holdings Pte said Chief Executive Officer, Ho Ching will step down after almost seven years at the helm of Singapore’s $130 billion state-owned investment company.

Chip Goodyear, 51, a former CEO of BHP Billiton Ltd, will succeed Ho, wife of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, effective 1 October, Temasek Chairman S Dhanabalan said at a press conference on Friday. Goodyear will be the first foreigner to run the sovereign wealth fund.

Ho drove Temasek’s expansion outside Singapore with acquisitions in China, Europe and the US, increasing financial assets to 40 per cent of the fund’s portfolio. Goodyear takes over as the credit crisis ravages the value of Temasek’s investments in Barclays Plc, Merrill Lynch & Co and Bank of China Ltd. The MSCI World/Financials Index slumped 60 per cent in the past year.

“In hindsight, Temasek came in too early but it would be unfair to say Temasek made the wrong call to invest in American banks,” Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong, said.