Temasek global portfolio reaches record USD 194 billion

Singapore state investment giant Temasek Holdings said today its global portfolio reached a record Sg$266 billion (USD 194 billion) in the year to March, driven by rise in global equities.
The value of its holdings increased 19 per cent from the previous fiscal year's Sg$223 billion and is more than double its portfolio of Sg$103 billion 10 years ago, the company said in its annual report.
Net profit was Sg$14.5 billion from Sg$10.9 billion last year, said Temasek, one of the world's biggest state-linked investment vehicles whose whose holdings include top global brands such as banking firm Standard Chartered, Singapore Airlines and Spanish energy giant Repsol.

"This was the most active year for us since the global financial crisis," Temasek chairman Lim Boon Heng said in a statement.
"We made Sg$30 billion of new investments and a record Sg$19 billion of divestments," he added.
Total shareholder return, which includes dividends it pays to the Singapore government and excludes capital injections it receives, was 19.2 per cent, a sharp improvement from the previous fiscal year's 1.5 per cent.

Temasek said about half of its new investments were in Asia, followed by North America and Europe, reflecting "our balanced outlook between a growing Asia and the recovering mature markets".

Singapore remains the firm's biggest market, accounting for 28 per cent of the total portfolio.
Temasek, however, said it had been steadily expanding its holdings in China, which accounts for 27 per cent of its portfolio, up from 25 per cent the previous year and 23 per cent in 2013.
"From our earlier investments in banks as broad proxies of a transforming economy, we have broadened our exposure to include sectors like insurance, consumer and technology which are likely to benefit from the transformation of China," it said.
The top three sectors it invested in last year were consumer, financial services as well as life sciences and agriculture.