Temasek U.S. Bets Exceed China’s For First Time In 10 Years

Temasek Holdings Pte’s investments in China are now smaller than those in the Americas for the first time in at least a decade, underscoring persistent caution among global money managers toward Asia’s largest economy, David Ramli and Low De Wei reported for Bloomberg News.

Temasek's investments in the Americas made up 22% of assets, second only to Singapore at 27%. I Photo: Temasek

The Singapore state-owned investor on Tuesday reported a modest total shareholder return of 1.6% for the year ended March 31.

It said China’s capital markets slump caused valuations of its assets in the country to decline, which offset better returns from the US and India. The performance was an improvement on Temasek’s one-year return in fiscal 2023, which was a 5.07% drop.

The firm’s net portfolio value reached S$389 billion ($288 billion) as of March, up from S$382 billion a year earlier.

Temasek has long been one of the biggest institutional investors in China, which accounted for 29% of its portfolio as recently as 2020. But four years on, its holdings in the world’s second-largest economy have dropped to just 19% of the firm’s portfolio as of March.

On the other hand, investments in the Americas made up 22% of assets, second only to Singapore at 27%.

The relatively subdued fiscal 2024 return comes at a critical juncture for Singapore and Temasek, which marks its 50th anniversary this year. The company’s returns, along with those from sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, help form the national budget’s second-biggest source of funding.