Temasek Holdings was expectedly gloomy in its annual review in July. “The global economy is in a fragile state,” Singapore’s state-owned investor said. It threw in phrases phrases Temasek Temasek Review 2022: So Every Generation Prospers Read more like “fault lines in the global marketplace” and a “fractious geopolitical environment” for good measure. Temasek saw its total portfolio rise 6% to a record S$403 billion (US$297 billion) in the year ended March 2022. But that was a sharp drop from the 25% jump in the previous fiscal.
Rising interest rates, supply-chain bottlenecks, and worries about the post-pandemic economic recovery have fuelled investor skepticism in developed economies like the US and the UK. Even China has been in sell-off mode—Temasek predicted the Asian giant may face challenges in achieving its 2022 growth target of 5.5%. Not surprisingly, several of Temasek’s investments in the country are facing the heat. The firm accounted for 40% of investments 40% of investments SWF How Will China's Tech Crackdown Impact on Temasek? Read more made by state-run funds in Chinese companies in the year ended March 2022. But its portfolio companies plummeted in value due to the sell-off in Chinese tech stocks and also due to the rising regulatory scrutiny. As a result, it had to exit exit The Business Times Temasek slashes stakes in Alibaba and Didi, exits Baidu amid crackdown by Beijing Read more several of these companies.
After three years as Temasek’s top country by total investments, China slipped to #2 as of March 2022. Its share of Temasek’s global portfolio fell to 22% from 29% in 2020. Meanwhile, Temasek is doubling down on India. In the same period, the company’s exposure in India rose to US$16 billion, or 5.2% of its global investments, from US$9 billion (3.96%) in the year ended March 2020.
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Also, Temasek is no longer keen just on late-stage deals, as has been its longstanding investment strategy. The Ken’s analysis of Temasek’s India portfolio revealed three companies where Temasek initially invested between seed and Series C rounds.It was not only about making big bets in companies or sectors, but also about reaping returns. Last year, four of its portfolio companies, including foodtech company Zomato, went public on the India bourses, helping it reap handsome returns—as much as 17X in one case.
