Ho Ching to retire as Temasek Holdings CEO

Temasek Holdings, announced that Ho Ching will retire as its chief executive officer and will step down from its board with effect from October 1st 2021. She will be succeeded by Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara.

Sandrasegara joined Temasek a decade ago with a sense of mission and purpose. He brought with him a wealth of experience, a rich network across the region, a keen sense of markets and commercial discipline, and above all, a commitment to build and transform people and organisations for the longer term, as well as to embed culture and values for a greater purpose.

Since then, Sandrasegara has played several critical roles in Temasek, including a two year stint as Head, Americas, based out of New York. He was appointed CEO of Temasek International in 2019 and he has been responsible for the Investor role of Temasek, managing the investment and portfolio activities of Temasek.

According to Lim Boon Heng, Chairman of Temasek Holdings, leadership succession is a strategic responsibility of the Board. “We have had in place an annual review since the early 2000s. This is to enable the Board to be prepared for all eventualities, with various succession options over different time horizons,” Lim also commented.

In a statement, Lim also said that Sandrasegara, as the CEO of Temasek Holdings, he will have the responsibility for the Stewardship role of Temasek, particularly in respect of Temasek’s Constitutional responsibilities to safeguard its own past reserves, as a Fifth Schedule entity.

Temasek International was created a decade ago as the commercial arm of Temasek to drive the investor role of Temasek as a long term owner and active investor. This enables the CEO of Temasek Holdings to focus on its Stewardship responsibility both as an intergenerational investor, and a Fifth Schedule entity under the Singapore Constitution charged with protection of its own past reserves.

The Chairman also paid tribute to Ho Ching for her leadership roles in Temasek over nearly two decades. He said Ho Ching has been very much part of this process and has been very active, working over the years to identify various potential successors both inside and outside of Temasek. Ho Ching has also played a key role in nurturing a strong leadership bench in Temasek, several of whom have gone on to CEO appointments beyond Temasek.

“We have evolved from a relatively passive owner of the shares in former Government-owned companies in Singapore to a globally-recognised and respected investor, forward looking institution and trusted steward, the Chairman said in a statement.

“It is hard to call out Ho Ching’s many achievements, and there will be more time to do so before she retires later in the year. Perhaps above all else, Ho Ching will be recognised for her unwavering commitment to build Temasek as a trusted steward, committed to the highest standards of integrity and governance. She has laid out and consistently applied the standards we expect of companies, and of ourselves as an owner.”

Temasek’s portfolio stood at SGD90 billion mostly in Singapore when Ho Ching was first appointed CEO in 2004. The portfolio has since tripled to over SGD300 billion, notwithstanding the impact of the Global Financial Crisis and now Covid-19.

Ho Ching said she is happy to be passing the leadership baton to Sandrasegara at this time. Temasek is a remarkable institution with deep roots in the ethos and founding values of Singapore. “I have been privileged to be part of an incredible journey over these two decades at Temasek, she said in a statement. The companies in our portfolio have also been key to helping us tread a path for which there was no map. Like Temasek, their boards, their leadership teams and the many men and women have helped their companies grow through the generations. They added strength, depth and breadth to Temasek. Today, many of them are also going through their own transformation too.”

Source: Temasek Holdings media release