Ho Ching — who as chief executive of sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings was ranked one of the most powerful women in shipping — retired last week.
Taking over the Temasek helm is Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, who was designated as Ho's successor in February.
Sandrasegara is now in charge of an investment portfolio worth $283bn that includes many of Singapore's largest maritime-related companies.
Temasek's website indicates it is the sole shareholder in PSA International and Pavilion Energy, while it has controlling or significant stakes in Pacific International Lines, Keppel Corp, Singapore Technologies Engineering, and is undertaking a mandatory purchase offer to acquire all issued and paid-up ordinary shares in Sembcorp Marine, in which it holds a controlling stake.
Sandrasegara joined Temasek in 2010 from law firm WongPartnership, where he was managing partner. He has more than 20 years of legal experience, mainly focusing on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and corporate law.
The former lawyer now holds a dual role as CEO of both Temasek and its commercial arm Temasek International.
When Sandrasegara's appointment as CEO was first announced, Ho said recruiting him was a long process, and it took three years to convince him to leave WongPartnership and join the company.
Sandrasegara subsequently played several key roles in Temasek Holdings, including a two-year stint as head of Americas, based in New York.
He became CEO of Temasek International in 2019, managing its investment and portfolio activities.
Ho, 68, is the wife of Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. With a background in engineering, and long career in the defence sciences and engineering, she joined Temasek Holdings in 2002 as a director before assuming the role of CEO two years later.
Temasek chairman Lim Boon Heng credited Ho for transforming the investment fund from a relatively passive shareholder in former government-owned companies in Singapore to a globally recognised investor.
Under her leadership, the value of Temasek's investment portfolio quadrupled.
Ho is also known for championing sustainability, pushing Temasek to work towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and invest in companies focused on sustainability solutions.
Temasek and asset manager BlackRock recently announced a $600m fund dedicated to carbon-cutting technologies.
Ho now joins the board of Temasek Trust, which provides governance and financial oversight over the company's philanthropic endowments. She is slated to take over as chair of the trust in April 2022.
