In the high-stakes world of investment, where billion-dollar deals dominate headlines, Temasek’s Chief Financial Officer Png Chin Yee offers a more grounded perspective.

“The real value of any deal lies in how it strengthens our portfolio, augments our resilience and positions us for the future,” she explains. “Every transaction is a stepping stone towards sustainable, long-term returns.”

Temasek’s strength lies in its readiness to adapt its portfolio as new opportunities emerge, from fintech to Artificial Intelligence. “Ultimately, it’s about staying ahead of the curve – envisioning the future, and having the courage to pivot when necessary,” she adds. 

Reflecting on her 13-year career at Temasek, it is this broader journey that Chin Yee finds most fulfilling. “If I have helped put Temasek’s portfolio in a better position to generate returns, that is what I would be proudest of.”

Paving a path to resilience

Chin Yee’s decision to leave her investment banking career to join the “buy side” in 2011 came as the global investment landscape was rapidly shifting, driven by digitisation and evolving consumer habits.

Then a banker with global investment bank UBS, she had worked closely with Temasek on several transactions and was familiar with its dynamic approach. “Temasek had a global mandate, a front-row seat to what was going on in the rest of the world, and was making significant transactions in the financial services space. If you were based in Asia and wanted to invest in financial services, it was a very exciting place to be,” she says. When approached by current CEO Dilhan Pillay, then the company’s Head of Portfolio Management and Co-Head of its Singapore operations, she needed little convincing.

As Head of Financial Services, Chin Yee and her team were tasked with recalibrating Temasek’s portfolio beyond traditional banking into emerging sectors like payments and fintech. “Banks are inherently cyclical and capital-intensive,” she explains. “We wanted to shift towards less cyclical businesses with stronger recurring cash flows.”

Payments, for instance, offer baseline resilience. “If you're feeling rich, you eat at a fancy restaurant. If not, you choose somewhere more modest. But there’s still a base level of spending,” she says. The 2014 investment in Adyen, a rising payments leader, exemplified this pivot.

As important as it was to seize emerging opportunities, it was equally important to take a thoughtful approach to divesting investments that no longer aligned with Temasek’s long-term vision. “You want to make sure that the employees, customers, and even the minority shareholders are taken care of,” says Chin Yee. “When we invest, we try to do it responsibly. And when we divest, we ensure we do that responsibly as well.”

As Chin Yee drove innovation in financial services, similar thematic shifts were taking place across other investment groups. “For example, in Telecommunications, Media and Technology, we moved away from telco assets to focus on consumer tech, and now on AI infrastructure like data centres,” she says.

Today, Temasek’s portfolio is a mix of two halves: long-standing portfolio companies that remain relevant, and global direct investments that align with emerging trends. “Constantly repositioning our portfolios to capture tomorrow's opportunities and generate better returns – that’s a continuing journey,” says Chin Yee.

The ripple effect

Chin Yee’s subsequent moves within Temasek, rotating from financial services to co-leading the China portfolio, and then to the Portfolio Strategy and Risk Group (PSRG), gave her a unique perspective when she became CFO in 2023.

“The CFO role today isn’t just about financial reporting anymore – it’s about shaping strategies and influencing outcomes,” she says. The breadth of her experience equips her to ask tough questions, steer decisions, and ensure Temasek stays on course for its long-term goals.

As sustainability became central to Temasek’s strategy, she played a key role in launching the firm’s first Sustainability Report, which highlights its progress in embedding Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles into its investment approach.

“We integrate ESG considerations into every investment decision,” she says. “Our teams rigorously assess ESG risks and opportunities, and ensure that our portfolio companies align with sustainable practices. The climate crisis, in particular, is an existential issue – we all have a role to play.”

This commitment is deeply tied to Chin Yee’s own approach to leadership and responsibility. “I think about my responsibility in concentric circles: to my team, to the firm, and to the broader ecosystem,” she says. “It’s about making decisions that not only drive success but also create positive ripple effects.”

For Chin Yee, this ethos reflects Temasek’s broader purpose of fostering prosperity across generations. “As a firm, we have a responsibility to people – both inside and outside the organisation – and that will always drive our long-term view.”

“We build portfolios not just for today, but for our children – and their children.”