Mapletree CFO Wendy Koh appointed as Temasek’s new CFO

[SINGAPORE] Temasek has named a senior executive from Mapletree Investments as its new chief financial officer (CFO), with incumbent Png Chin Yee stepping down from the role to focus on her concurrent position as president of Temasek Singapore, the investment company said on Friday (Jun 19).

Wendy Koh, currently group CFO at Temasek-owned real estate group Mapletree, will be CFO-designate from Aug 1 and assume the role fully on Oct 1.

Temasek said that her experience will support its continued focus on disciplined capital management and long-term value creation.

Apart from group CFO, Koh is also a non-executive director at the managers of Mapletree’s three Singapore-listed real estate investment trusts - Mapletree Logistics Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MPACT). She was previously Mapletree’s regional chief executive officer, South East Asia.

As president of Temasek Singapore, Png oversees Temasek’s Singapore-based portfolio companies, and work to strengthen performance, drive value creation, and deliver sustainable long-term returns across the portfolio.

State-owned Temasek recently underwent a major restructuring and leadership renewal, redrawing operations under three vehicles – Temasek Global Investments (TGI), Temasek Singapore (TSG) and Temasek Partnership Solutions (TPS), chaired by Temasek CEO Dilhan Pillay.

In response to queries from The Business Times, a Mapletree spokesperson said Wong Mun Hoong will assume the role of group CFO, in addition to his current responsibilities as regional chief executive officer of Australia and North Asia.

He was previously Mapletree’s group CFO before taking on the regional CEO role in August 2019.

Koh’s appointment comes amid continuing market buzz about an impending merger between Mapletree Investments and CapitaLand Investments, another Temasek portfolio company.

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A combination of the two state-linked property groups would create an asset management giant to rival global groups, although their many areas of overlapping businesses may prompt a restructuring for efficiency.

A recent note issued by JPMorgan speculated that the likelihood of such a merger this year has diminished, given “the difficulty of finding a win-win scenario for all stakeholders”.

The appointment of Koh from Mapletree into Temasek’s top management seems to suggest otherwise.

In announcing the restructuring of Temasek last year, Pillay said it will position Temasek in the new global environment as it navigates an “ever-changing landscape”.