Two years after he helped establish Temasek’s New York office in 2014, Chua Eu Jin found himself back on American soil – this time in a different capacity.

As Temasek set up a second investment office in San Francisco, its newly appointed Managing Director for Institutional Relations headed to Washington, DC, to set up a stakeholder engagement office.

“As we grew our US footprint, it was also important to create a better understanding of Temasek with governments, regulators, think tanks, even other investors,” says Eu Jin. “Our job is to persuade them, through evidence – and hopefully some charm,” he adds with a laugh, “that they can trust us, and welcome us because we're good and trustworthy capital.”

He spent the next three years getting the Washington office off the ground, and between 2022 and 2023, set up the same function in the EU capital, Brussels. These offices complement teams in Beijing and Singapore.

For the global team, it’s a job that’s never quite done. “Governments and civil servants keep rotating, and Temasek is changing and evolving, so there's a need to constantly tend the garden,” says Eu Jin.

Still, it is a challenge he embraces.

“Understanding the concerns of a regulator – why they say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – requires delving into the historical and cultural facts that underpin their perception of you,” he says. “Sometimes, no matter how logical your argument, they still won’t budge. Then it’s about finding common ground, and identifying how the value we bring aligns with their priorities.”

“That’s what makes the policy side so challenging – and so engaging.” 

Growing beyond borders

A seasoned lawyer, Eu Jin joined Temasek in 2007, fresh from a five-year stint in China, where he worked on cross-border transactions. “I found it energising and wanted to do it full time at a company that was international or had those ambitions,” he says.

At the time, Temasek had begun to move beyond Singapore, with offices in India, Vietnam and China. Beyond those markets, investments outside Singapore required transaction teams to fly out. “Right from the start, the scope of the work was truly exciting – one week I could be in Europe, and the next, in China,” he recalls.

By the early 2010s, lingering caution from the 2008 global financial crisis was giving way to optimism, fuelled by the growing potential of the technology and life sciences sectors, particularly in innovation hubs like the US and Europe. To capitalise on those trends, Temasek embarked on T2020, a ten-year strategy to transform itself into a global investor by the turn of the decade.

The opening of Temasek’s London office in February 2014 marked the beginning of a global expansion that would see new investment offices in New York (2014), San Francisco (2017), Shenzhen (2020), and Paris (2023), supported by institutional relations teams in Singapore, Beijing, Washington DC and Brussels.

“Temasek has always prioritised transparency and credibility,” he says. “When restrictions tightened, and regulatory scrutiny increased globally in the mid-2010s, we saw a need for dedicated teams that could anticipate and understand the implications of geopolitical risks and policy developments on investment activities.”

In 2015, Eu Jin transitioned from his legal role to a new Institutional Relations role. “I’ve always been drawn to the policy side of M&A,” he admits. “I’m genuinely interested in engaging with foreign governments, understanding their concerns, and advocating for investment opportunities. It felt like a natural extension of my personal interests in politics, history and culture.”

A key challenge of the job, he says, is explaining that while Temasek is owned by the Singapore government, it operates on strictly commercial principles. “Many countries have regulations requiring heightened scrutiny when there's ownership. We need to clarify that what may intuitively seem state-led is really not, in our case.”

“The challenge is that this is unique to Singapore’s economic model, and when you're the only unicorn in the forest, people have to trust you before they believe you. So a lot of our work is engagement, presenting ourselves in an open and transparent manner that gives them confidence in us.” 

Another aspect of the job is participating in public consultations on proposed policies, anticipating challenges and offering a perspective.

Much of the work is about keeping doors open and relationships warm, he says. “There is no hero charging into the fire. We don't take curtain calls. Simply put, we do our work, and try to do it well.”

A serendipitous fit

Since returning from Brussels at the beginning of 2024, Eu Jin’s focus has shifted to Southeast Asia, fostering relationships in key markets in the region. “Since our strategy is to invest more in the region, the engagement function has to run in parallel with that,” he says. He estimates he currently spends a third of his year on the road.

Reflecting on his 17 years in Temasek, he feels immense gratitude. “I often ask myself if it was a coincidence that the very things I found interesting and invigorating just happened to be the same things I found in my work at Temasek.”

“Maybe it was kismet. But I am very grateful for it.”