Temasek plans to invest $30 billion in the US market over the next five years. The company grew its US assets in the past years.
Singapore’s state-owned firm remains cautious on putting money into China. Temasek’s investments for North and South America surpassed China for the first time in at least a decade this year. America’s investments now account for 22 per cent, or US $63 billion, of its portfolio. Chinese investments make up 19 per cent of the portfolio, and those in Singapore account for 27 per cent. Temasek has grown its US assets fivefold in the past decade.
The firm oversaw $389 billion (US $289 billion) of assets as of March, up from $382 billion a year earlier.
China and the US are vying to dominate semiconductor manufacturing because of its link to artificial intelligence and other aspects of the digital economy. The US is trying to limit the rise of its Asian rival by deploying export controls and tariffs, and even considering a rule that would curb China’s access to advanced semiconductor technology.
“The Americas is going to be and continue to be the largest recipient of capital,” Jane Atherton, Temasek’s head of North America, said in an interview
That US-China strife has left investors navigating a geopolitical tripwire as they seek to capture a piece of one of the demanded sectors in the market. Temasek’s Atherton said there are ways to structure investments around certain constraints, such as taking passive public equity stakes in listed semiconductor companies.
“We make sure we are not investing in businesses that are in the cross hairs of geopolitical tensions,” Atherton said.
According to Atherton, for the US, she added Temasek is looking to invest in AI-related firms, as well as semiconductor and infrastructure plays such as data centres and the companies that power them. It can gain exposure to data centres through its own real estate subsidiaries – Mapletree Investments and CapitaLand Group – or by investing alongside private equity firms.
The company is also planning to make its news investments electric-vehicle makers and biotech firms.
In China, Temasek has excluded investing in geopolitically sensitive areas, instead aiming on large domestic companies. It’s looking to make new investments in electric-vehicle makers and biotech firms.