
http://community.nasdaq.com/News/20...-buyingmore-ews-cichy-bac.aspx?storyid=113598
Singapore to China: we’re buying….more! (EWS, CICHY, BAC)
Posted 1/11/2012
While Chinese companies are leaving U.S. financial exchanges due to concerns about declining growth in the People's Republic and fraudulent activities, as reported in an article on www.emergingmoney.com , Temasek Holdings, the sovereign wealth fund for Singapore, has established a separate entity to invest billions more in the country.
The new investment vehicle, Pavillion Capital Pte, will, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal by P.R. Venkat, "focus on investment opportunities at small and medium-size privately owned enterprises in China..."
Already Temasek Holdings has substantial Chinese assets in its portfolio, noted Venkat in his Wall Street Journal piece, " Temasek Holdings Aims to Boost Chinese Holdings ." At present, China represents the biggest investment area for Temasek Holdings after only Singapore itself.
Temasek Holdings focuses on Asia, with fully 77% of its assets located in the region. Founded in 1975, the fund is owned in toto by the Singapore Ministry of Finance. It receives the highest rating from credit agencies and for transparency.
About half of its managed assets are external to Singapore, such as China Construction Bank ( CICHY , quote ), Australian telecom Optus, and Singapore Airlines, which in turn owns a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic. Many of the Singapore holdings are in the iShares MSCI Singapore Index Fund ( EWS , quote ).
Although 75% of Temasek's holdings are in Singapore, it has set a target of eventually reducing this to only 33% of its assets. Another 33% of the portfolio will be in developed markets and the final third is planned for investment in developing economies.
The investments of Temasek Holdings now total about $150 billion. In 2011, Temasek bought the shares of China Construction Bank from Bank of America ( BAC , quote ).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.