Mapletree CFO Wendy Koh appointed as Temasek’s new CFO

[SINGAPORE] Temasek has named a senior executive from Mapletree Investments as its new chief financial officer, with incumbent Png Chin Yee stepping down from the role to focus on her concurrent position as president of Temasek Singapore, the investment company said in a media release on Friday (Jun 19).

Wendy Koh, who is currently group CFO at Temasek-owned real estate group Mapletree, will be CFO-designate from Aug 1 this year, before assuming the role fully on Oct 1.

Temasek said that Koh’s experience will support the investor’s continued focus on disciplined capital management and long-term value creation.

As president of Temasek Singapore, Png will oversee Temasek’s Singapore-based portfolio companies, working to strengthen performance, drive value creation, and deliver sustainable long-term returns across the portfolio.

In response to queries from The Business Times, a Mapletree spokesperson said Wong Mun Hoong will assume the role of group CFO, in addition to his current responsibilities as regional chief executive officer of Australia and North Asia.

Wong had previously served as Mapletree’s group CFO before taking on the regional CEO role in August 2019.

“We thank Ms Wendy Koh for her contributions during her tenure as group chief financial officer and wish her continued success in her future endeavours,” the spokesperson said.

Koh’s appointment comes amid continuing market buzz about an impending merger between Mapletree Investments and CapitaLand Investments, another Temasek portfolio company.

A combination of the two state-linked property groups would create an asset management giant to rival global groups, albeit with many areas of overlapping businesses that may need to be restructured for efficiency.

A recent note issued by JP Morgan speculated that the likelihood of such a merger this year has diminished, given “the difficulty in finding a win-win scenario for all stakeholders”.

The appointment of Koh from Mapletree into Temasek’s top management seems to suggest otherwise.