Climate change the 'biggest consideration' for Temasek's investment strategy, says its next CEO

THE investment strategies that Temasek Holdings have employed over the years have borne much fruit, and this will continue to shape the decisions the company makes in the next decade and beyond, said its incoming executive director and chief executive Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara.

But with this being a "much more complex" world, the "biggest consideration" for Temasek will centre around the issue of climate change and the impact this will have on businesses in every sector all over the world, he said.

"We have to think about what it means for the various geographies we operate in. That is exactly what we are focused on, and why we say that sustainability is at the core of what we do," he said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, just hours after it was announced that from Oct 1, he would take over the two positions held by Ho Ching.

The 57-year-old Mr Pillay, a corporate lawyer who joined Temasek in 2010 and became chief executive of investment arm Temasek International two years ago, said the company's current portfolio is evenly balanced between developed and emerging markets.

"Our developed markets are US, Europe, Singapore and Australia - those are very significant. Emerging markets are China, India, South-east Asia and also parts of Latin America. That's how we look at geographic orientation, and where we decide our portfolio should be," he said. "It's where we put our capital in line with how we see the world devolving, and how we see our portfolio evolving in the context of a changing world."

Also at the hour-long press conference was Ms Ho, who said she remains focused on seeing out the rest of her time as chief executive until Oct 1. She chose not to comment on her potential plans after that. She did, however, say that it was her "personal belief" that she should not stay on as a board member after her retirement.

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"This is something we have instituted as a policy, we generally do not encourage (departing) CEOs to remain. The key thing is to allow the new CEO to establish his style, his leadership, (and to have flexibility without somebody overlooking and saying this is not right," said Ms Ho, 67.

"We have a strong team of many individuals who have deep experience and deep convictions. It's not a team of 'yes men' - they do debate, and this is the strength that I see that Dilhan has, (which is) to bring together and overcome individual thoughts and ideas, and pull together the different strengths."