Retiring Temasek CEO Ho Ching to be chairman of its philanthropic arm's board

As she steps down from the helm of Temasek Holdings today, Ms Ho Ching is joining the board of the state investor's philanthropic arm Temasek Trust.

Ms Ho, 68, will take over as chairman of Temasek Trust from April 1 next year. She will succeed Mr S. Dhanabalan, who will remain on the board and be designated chairman emeritus.

Ms Ho spent 17 years as Temasek's chief executive, during which its portfolio value increased by more than four times.

Succeeding her is Mr Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, who is concurrently CEO of Temasek's commercial arm Temasek International.

In a separate statement yesterday, Temasek also announced two new appointments to its board of directors. Mastercard executive chairman Ajay Banga's appointment is effective today, while GGV Capital managing partner Jenny Lee will join the board on Jan 1 next year.

Temasek said that the new appointments to its board continue a process of transition, following the recent retirement of director Goh Yew Lin and the retirements of Ms Ho and Mr Robert Ng today.

The board expects to make further appointments in the coming months, which will be announced once finalised, it added.

In its statement, Temasek said: "Ajay and Jenny bring new experiences and capabilities to the board, which are most welcome.

"We look forward to tapping their exceptional global expertise as the board leads Temasek's direction into the next decade."

Before joining Mastercard, where he was president and CEO from 2010 to last year, Mr Banga was CEO of Citigroup Asia-Pacific, and also worked at Nestle and PepsiCo in India.

GGV Capital's Ms Lee launched the venture capital firm's first office in China in 2005 and reopened its Singapore office in 2019, and has also worked in various finance and operations roles with the likes of ST Aerospace and Morgan Stanley HK.

At the same time, three new directors will be appointed to the board of Temasek Trust, which was established in 2007 to provide governance and financial oversight of the company's philanthropic endowments that fund the work of designated beneficiaries.

Its beneficiaries include Temasek Foundation and Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory.

The three new directors - Mr Benny Lim, Mr Teo Ming Kian and Mr Tow Heng Tan - will join the board with effect from Jan 1 next year.

Mr Dhanabalan, who has been chairman of Temasek Trust since September 2015, said: "Ho Ching has a deep and passionate commitment to so many community causes, and has been instrumental in Temasek's own stewardship journey over the past two decades.

"The board decided we would ask her to join us, and to continue that commitment by leading Temasek Trust next year."

Ms Ho said she was honoured to be invited to join the board of Temasek Trust, and said she sees great opportunity for it to evolve its role given the scale it has reached.

"I am very impressed by the remarkable progress that Temasek Trust has made since its founding over 10 years ago," she said.

"Temasek Trust has enabled a steady and sustainable support for Temasek Foundation and other initiatives to deliver vitally important programmes in the communities in Singapore and around Asia."

She paid tribute to Mr Dhanabalan's work as chairman, noting how he helped to underline the importance of Temasek Trust's governance role.

"By getting that right, he has solidified Temasek Trust as a trusted partner and platform to deepen the interest for thoughtful and impactful philanthropy on a sustainable basis."