Weekly Digest: CalSTRS shrinks China exposure; Temasek unveils SE Asia advisory panel
TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK
China dropped to the 19th place on the California State Teachers’ Retirement System ranking of country asset exposure, following a broader US pension retreat from the world’s second-largest economy.
The pension giant’s fund allocation to China trailed South Korea, India, Mexico and Ireland by the end of May, according to its latest disclosure based on market value and revenue exposure. China’s weight in its overall investment book tumbled from 2.1% at the end of 2020 to 1% two years later, according to a Nikkei Asia report.
The pension fund had an investment portfolio of $309 billion then versus $283 billion in late 2020. That means the value of its China allocations tumbled by at least 69% over the last three years, according to Bloomberg.
Source: Bloomberg; Nikkei Asia
Singapore state investment firm Temasek launched a Southeast Asia advisory panel of business leaders from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, Temasek’s executive director and chief executive, said Temasek is looking to deploy more capital into Southeast Asia, a region whose growth is underpinned by strong fundamentals including a young demographic, rapid urbanisation and accelerated digitisation.
Together with Temasek’s European advisory panel and Americas advisory panel (TAAP), the new Southeast Asia panel will complement the company’s international panel, providing it with regular access and engagement with experts on issues relevant to its activities across key markets in the region.
Temasek established its European panel in January 2016 and set up its Americas panel five months later.
Source: Temasek
OTHER INVESTMENT NEWS
CHINA
China Investment Corporation, and Malaysia’s KLCC Property Holdings Bhd are among potential bidders for a stake in an office tower in the heart of Dubai’s financial district, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Its owners, Brookfield Asset Management and state-owned Investment Corp. of Dubai, may sell a stake of as much as 49% in ICD Brookfield Place, whose tenants include JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. the people said.
The joint venture has received interest from more than a dozen entities globally, including sovereign wealth and pension funds, the people said. At least one candidate showed interest in buying the whole tower, two of the people said.
Source: Bloomberg
JAPAN
Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) on August 4 reported a net investment gain of ¥18.983 trillion ($133.72 billion) in April-June, marking its record quarterly investment profit with an investment return of 9.49%.
GPIF posted a net investment gain for the second straight quarter as US and European stock markets performed well. Stock prices surged also in Japan as investors welcomed market reforms at the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The yen value of foreign currency-denominated assets held by the pension fund also ballooned following the Japanese currency's weakening.
Source: GPIF
KOREA
Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Fund, the public pension fund operated by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, is looking or domestic private fund managers for mandates of a total size of up to W260 billion ($200 million).
The pension fund has launched a request for proposals (RFPs) to hire up to six asset managers.
The standard rate of return of funds should be an IRR of 7% or higher. Potential managers need to have at least five years of private equity experience.
Deadline for RFPs are August 17 with a final decision on selected managers in October.
Source: Yellow Umbrella
SINGAPORE
Temasek reached an agreement with Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra to invest INR12 billion ($145 million) in Mahindra Electric Automobile, the company’s electric vehicle (EV) unit.
The deal will give Temasek a stake of 1.49% to 2.97% in Mahindra Electric Automobile.
Temasek will join UK development finance agency British International Investments as an investor in Mahindra’s EV unit, pushing its valuation up 15% to as much as $9.8 billion.
Mahindra is aiming to make 20-30% of its SUV sales electric by 2027.
Source: Mahindra & Mahindra
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched a public consultation on a revised framework to strengthen surveillance and defences against money laundering risks in the country’s single family office (SFO) sector.
The revised framework will introduce a harmonised class exemption for SFOs with specific requirements to ensure that all SFOs are subject to anti-money laundering controls.
To qualify for the class exemption, SFOs will need to be incorporated in Singapore, notify MAS and confirm compliance with the qualifying criteria when they commence operations in Singapore, report annually on total assets managed after the end of each calendar year, and maintain a business relationship with an MAS-regulated financial institution that will perform anti-money laundering checks on them.
Submissions to the consultation can be made until September 30.
Source: MAS