Here are some major developments across our ecosystem clusters of Asset & Investment Management (AIM), Philanthropy & Impact (PI), and Socio-Economic Enterprise & Development (SEED), forged under four key pathways:

A. Building Capacity for the Impact Sector

The impact sector holds immense potential to drive transformative change but is currently under-resourced, and needs a stronger, more resilient base. We will continue efforts to grow the talent pipeline, build capacity, and support social enterprises and non-profits with the necessary data tools, skills, knowledge, and networks to scale impact and thrive in an increasingly complex landscape.

Asia Centre for Changemakers (ACC), housed in the Wealth Management Institute (WMI), launched its inaugural Changemaker Impact Endeavour Fellowship to help philanthropists, advisors, family offices, entrepreneurs, and community partners enhance their professional competency and deliver impactful philanthropy. Centre for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP) enhanced its research and data offerings as UNDP’s anchor partner in Asia for the SDGs; and held an Impact Investing Roundtable for investors and philanthropy sector leaders to explore capital deployment toward positive environmental and social outcomes. Stewardship Asia Centre (SAC) continued to promote the integration of steward leadership principles in business, and its annual Summit has grown to become a leading forum in Asia for stewardship excellence. Mandai Nature catalysed programmes and research with its partners, deepening capacity and engaging youths to develop a next generation of conservation leaders across Southeast Asia.

B. Convening Partnerships and Inspiring Collective Impact

A collaborative spirit must lie at the heart of systemic change. At Temasek Trust, we see our role as convener and ecosystem builder – bringing together diverse stakeholders across the public, private and philanthropic sectors to foster dialogue, align goals, share knowledge, pool resources, and co-create solutions. Together in partnership, we can move the needle much further and faster.

Following its official launch, Philanthropy Asia Alliance (PAA) progressed to form Communities of Interest, unlocking member pledges and partner commitments in identified focus areas around global health, inclusive development, and climate action. We set up Systems, Knowledge & Innovation (SKI) Office to make sense of our complex challenges through well-founded data analysis, knowledge networks, and thought leadership that can spark innovation and scalable solutions in Asia. We started an inaugural Strategy Collective on Planet, as an impact forum involving senior leadership from our non-profit ecosystem together with influential stakeholders from the private sector, government and academia to search out constructive perspectives and creative solutioning for climate challenges. Temasek Shophouse (TSH) attracted a strong following with community outreach activities like Let’s Jam and School of Tomorrow, even as renovations proceeded apace for the opening of our new shophouse this year.

C. Mobilising Capital Across the Spectrum

We need innovative ways to deploy capital across the spectrum – from traditional philanthropy to impact investment – that is judicious, catalytic, and meaningfully applied for optimal impact. In blending financial discipline with social purpose, we aim to unlock new opportunities for sustained funding and scalable innovation that can bring long-term value to communities.

TT Capital broadened its investment capabilities as part of TT Asset Management (TTAM) to generate sustainable returns to power philanthropic outcomes. abcIMPACT, our Asia-focused impact investment fund, closed its Fund II with nearly USD600M and is now constructing a resilient portfolio of companies across social and environmental themes that drive positive change and inclusive growth. We launched our Catalytic Capital for Climate & Health (C3H) fund to position for early-stage impact-first investments in climate and health technologies, and their intersections. TT Foundation Advisors (TTFA) was launched as a one-stop provider of philanthropy advisory and management services for foundations, institutions, and donor-advised funds; and is running a pilot with the Commissioner of Charities to help Singapore charities mitigate risks related to money laundering. At Tri-Sector Associates (TSA), the team continued to champion outcome-based financing through various Pay-for-Success models.

D. Enabling Innovation and Solutions at Scale

With technological advancements, policy advocacy, and enlightened partnerships, we look forward to enabling breakthrough solutions that can be scaled far beyond their origination. In addressing the systemic root causes and to create lasting impact, we must dare to think big and act boldly.

As our philanthropic programme designer and developer, Temasek Foundation (TF) has played a vital role in supporting community building and mobilising ground-ups. TF has also been seeding start-ups through The Liveability Challenge to accelerate the commercialisation of promising solutions to our urban challenges. To plug the gap in the global impact marketplace, Co-Axis was launched as a digital platform to connect prospective funders, with about 100 impact founders and innovators from over 40 countries to date, through pooled funds and direct investments, and has partnered with Arta Finance to unlock USD30M for such impact projects over the next two years. As founding partner of The Earthshot Prize (TEP), TT serves as its gateway to Asia to support the scaling of climate innovations. Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory’s (TLL) project to decarbonise rice cultivation was one such project that captured the imagination of young Asian climate leaders who visited their labs as part of TEP’s learning journey, and the project is poised to gain further global attention this year. We completed our acquisition of MoneyOwl and will re-purpose it to improve the financial security for underserved groups such as youths, and workers in the gig economy and essential services. T-PREP has been focusing on a peacetime strategy that commercially and socially contributes to pandemic readiness and emergency preparedness.

Anchoring On Core Values

In seeking all these transformational outcomes, we are mindful that the road ahead is long, likely to be bumpy, and not all efforts may succeed. It is all the more crucial that we are anchored on a set of shared values that give us hope and a derring-do spirit to persevere. As Nelson Mandela once said, "it always seems impossible until it’s done". That sense of positivity was echoed by Temasek Trust employees when we ran an exercise to collate inputs for our core values, in a collective effort to define who we are and what we stand for. These are embodied in the acronym HOPE:

Our values must be reflected in our leadership, behaviour, and organisational policy emphases. When assimilated and exemplified by our people, these shared values will powerfully shape our DNA, identity, and culture into the future.

Stepping Up In The Year Ahead

With the pathways as guideposts and shared values as anchors, we intend to further strengthen our core capabilities in institutional support for our non-profit ecosystem. I will highlight five integrated priorities:

1. Translating Systems Thinking to Strategy and Mandates. With deeper systems thinking and structured knowledge building on thematic issues at SKI, we can set clear strategies and mandates for action and impact, ensuring the continued relevance of our endowments against emerging needs.
2. Measuring Outcomes for Impact. We plan to put in place an Impact Measurement Framework with key impact statements, high-level outcomes, and a measurable set of success metrics across our ecosystem. True progress must be intentional, measurable, and impactful – and we will sharpen clarity and delivery by linking programmatic initiatives to tangible outcomes.
3. Extending our Reach Beyond. If we are to solve the global challenges today, we must solve for Asia. Asia accounts for over half the world’s population, and its carbon emissions. It is the fastest-growing economy of any region in the world, yet there are significant population segments in poverty, malnourished and without access to potable water. Many of these issues are trans-boundary and inter-connected. We aim to forge strategic relations with like-minded regional and global partners, build links with local governments and institutions, and engage with international and regional multilateral bodies, for partnership, advocacy and action.
4. Developing our Socio-Economic Enterprises. We are building a portfolio of socio-economic enterprises guided by a double bottom line of both profit and purpose. These are potentially in domains of public health and emergency services, holistic education and training, as well as financial services that support inclusion and innovation. They will be meaningful direct investments into capabilities and assets that can enhance sector capacity and drive collective impact.
5. Learning and Growing Together. To stay abreast of ever-evolving technologies and best practices, we are establishing an employee learning roadmap in leading-edge knowledge and applications that not only add value at work, but also support personal skills development.

There is much to be positive about the future. We are seeing a rise in philanthropic interest and participation from corporations and communities, increased focus on climate action, and stronger recognition of the intricate links between human well-being and planetary health. We are gathering more common ground and partners who see the importance of inter-sectional collaboration – across sectors, borders, and disciplines. There is growing interest in credible monitoring and reporting so that the materiality and additionality of philanthropic investments are better valued.

Strengthening the core is essential to driving impact. A strong core at Temasek Trust entails each team member nurturing our values, leadership, collaborative culture, and corporate capabilities that make for a cohesive, resilient, and effective organisation. This is vital to our ecosystem building – for we are not just preparing for the future, we are creating it together with like-minded partners to leave a lasting legacy for every generation.

I wish everyone a happy and impactful 2025!