Temasek Holdings is one of Singapore's sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), managing $130 billion. Over the past few years, the fund has been diversifying into emerging markets as well as developed economies. In fact, Temasek was one of the early investors in some major U.S. financial institutions. It has invested $5 billion in Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) back in December.
While Temasek hasn't tracked well, SWFs focus on the long term. Temasek still appears to be bullish on U.S. financial services companies as the portfolio concentration is a whopping 40%. And there are even rumors that Temasek may invest in Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH).
According to its annual report, Tamasek reported a $12.8 billion net profit for the past year as of the end of March. Keep in mind that the fund has engaged in a variety of asset sales.
Going forward, Tamasek is glum on its forecast, though. Basically, the fund thinks that the credit crunch will last another two years – which is certainly depressing.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
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