Temasek’s decision to replace Ho Ching with Chip Goodyear as chief executive raises a host of questions about the future direction of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.
The first is whether the change signals a greater degree of independence for the S$185 billion ($121.4 billion) fund. Temasek’s top brass has always claimed the fund has been run entirely independently; in an interview with Euromoney last year Temasek’s executive director, Simon Israel, put it like this. "I find it interesting to apply to people the Singapore Stock Exchange test of independence: independence of mind and judgement," he said.
"If you looked at any member of the Temasek board, every one of them has a completely independent mind and sense of judgement, and a very strong set of principles that would never accept the government interfering in the business. Frankly it is almost...
