Temasek restructures asset management entities

The asset management group, known as Seviora Holdings, will have combined assets under management of around S$75 billion ($55 billion). In addition to Azalea and InnoVen, it will be responsible for Fullerton Fund Management, an investment manager that caters to institutional clients, and Seatown Holdings International, a hedge fund specialist.

Seviora will work with the component entities on areas such as product development as well as marketing and distribution, with emphasis on collaboration and leveraging synergies. Each entity will retain operational autonomy and continue to manage its investment strategy under its existing brand. Yew Lin Goh, chairman of Seatown and a director of Temasek, has been appointed chairman of Seviora. Jimmy Phoon, currently CEO of Seatown, will take on the same role at Seviora.

“The asset management industry is in a period of rapid change, driven by shifting investor preferences, evolving asset classes and large concentrated pools of capital,” Goh said in a statement. “By bringing four successful but distinctly different asset management companies together, we see the opportunity to accelerate business growth through creation of scale, synergistic product offerings and greater investment in technology.”

Fullerton is by some distance the largest component, with S$54.9 billion in assets. Azalea and InnoVen are younger businesses: the former has S$7 billion in assets and the latter has invested more than $650 million across 225 start-ups.

Azalea was established with a remit to broaden investor access to private markets. It initially did this through debt-based structures. The Astrea series – essentially structured secondary transactions that offer exposure to existing funds in the Temasek portfolio – began in 2006 and completed its fifth iteration last year. From Astrea IV, a portion of the bonds were allocated to retail investors.

The Altrium fund-of-funds program launched in 2019, offering investors direct equity exposure. A debut vehicle of $650 million invests in a mixture of primary and secondary funds, with an emphasis on buyout and growth strategies. However, high net worth participation was restricted to accredited investors. These investors account for half of the corpus, with the rest coming from institutions.

InnoVen was established in 2008 as SVB India Finance, the India arm of US-based Silicon Valley Bank. Temasek bought the business for INR3 billion ($48 million) in 2015 and then sold a 50% stake to United Overseas Bank. InnoVen provides venture debt, acquisition finance, growth loans, and working capital support, working out of offices in India, China, and Singapore.

Temasek, a Singapore government-controlled investment fund, managed a portfolio worth S$306 billion as of March. Unlisted assets account for 48%, dominated by large businesses like real estate manager Mapletree Investments, SingPower, port operator PSA International, and retailer A.S. Watson. Only 5% – a still sizeable S$15 billion – is in earlier stage private companies.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• GPs
• Singapore
• Temasek Holdings
• Innoven Capital
• Azalea Asset Management