Comments, opinions and an occasional ramble
Ho Ching is out of Temasek!
Wow, this is big news, despite the interestingly lukewarm writing from the State’s Times, I mean, Straits Times.
I’ve been wondering when the axe is going to fall because so many high profile CEOs all over the world have been chopped from their positions. I don’t believe Temasek is ever going to give a reason for Ho Ching’s departure, but I think performance is probably a big push factor.
I’m not about to give my 2 cents worth on how lousy Ho Ching’s performance has been because I am not qualified to. I don’t even manage a tiny minuscule of the money she manages. However, it is a fact that under her charge, Temasek has had a few high profile missteps, and I don’t think anyone in Singapore is immune from having to answer for missteps, especially big ones.
Perhaps there is one exception: the GIC chairman. 
| Print article | This entry was posted by Aaron Ng on 06/02/2009 at 5:00 pm, and is filed under Ramblings. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 1 year ago
ST is certainly more luke warm than Reuters and Bloomberg. And I already think they are being very kind.
about 1 year ago
Think the plan is to RUN before more losses are exposed. Afterall Dhanabalan is there to do the loyal clean-up work for the LEE family. Smart move folks….but Singaporeans are much better informed these days…thanks to the internet and some very good blogs.
about 1 year ago
Ho Ching leaving has probably nothing to do with her performance at Temasek Hldings.
She is going into politics. She may be our next PM. She has plenty of loyal supporters in Temasek and can further count on certain cabinet ministers. Oh and she is half-Lee.
about 1 year ago
I think the reason released to the press was that “the succession had been planned for years now..”
anyway, very interesting blog, I’ve linked to it in my article about this event on EvolvingChoice.com
about 1 year ago
Aaron,
When Ho Ching was hired, Temasek said she will be there for 10 years because that is how long it will take for the changes to come.
Looks like Ho Ching being Ho Ching is super-duper efficient did her mission in 4 years and Temasek started looking for a successor in 2006. She is so uniquely talented and hard to replace : it took them 3 years to find Mr. Goodyear….
about 1 year ago
Lucky Tan and Aaron,
There’s no way Temasek will say bad things about Ho Ching. In Singapore, the face is very important you know. Bad also must spin until good.
about 1 year ago
You know guys, I’ve just realised that with Ho Ching’s departure, Sovereign Wealth Funds are led exclusively by men again: http://tinyurl.com/bflkjm
It also seems that Singapore is the only nation who puts politicians in charge of its Sovereign Wealth Fund.
about 1 year ago
The announcement of Ho Ching’s resignation was done a few days before parliament meet to review the Singapore reserve – this was done in order not to embarrassed PM Lee or MM Lee.
Ho Ching is a an engineer by training – no experience managing a large investment company like Temasek. When the chip is down – they went out to hire CHIP..