Temasek is a global investment company headquartered in Singapore. Since 2003, it has been setting aside a portion of its excess returns above its cost of capital for community gifts. These are approved by its Board before being donated to Temasek Trust and other non-profits to achieve its community objectives of Connecting People, Uplifting Communities, Protecting the Planet, and Advancing Capabilities (“CUPA”).
In 2007, Temasek set up Temasek Trust to manage and disburse endowment funds and Temasek Foundation to develop and deliver community programmes. This governance model, still in place today, separates financial management from programme design and delivery. The skills required for both are very different.
Temasek Trust has been the primary beneficiary of Temasek's gifts and disburses grants to be developed and delivered by its ecosystem entities, including Temasek Foundation.
Temasek Trust and Temasek Foundation are independent and separate from Temasek, with their own boards and management teams. Temasek does not direct their day-to-day operations.
Our funding is primarily from Temasek and other third-party donors.
We typically disburse funds through endowments, ensuring sustainable support. However, large projects may occasionally draw on a substantial portion or even the whole of the relevant gift.
We work closely with Temasek to ensure sound corporate governance, including the formation of an independent and experienced Board to guide and complement management leadership. This is the same principle applied to Temasek's portfolio companies. As a member, Temasek approves board appointments and receives annual audited financial statements, as well as annual updates on our allocation of gifts and applications.
In 2021, Temasek's Board endorsed a plan to position Temasek Trust as a steward of philanthropic assets, advocate for sustainability, and catalyst for impact.
We are developing new capabilities and vehicles to catalyse action and scale impact:
We are focused on enabling a vibrant and impactful philanthropic and impact ecosystem in Asia. At the same time, we recognise that many of the pressing challenges we face today, such as climate change, are interconnected in nature. They transcend borders and require collaborative action. Hence, we have forged a global network of partners across our ecosystem and sectors to address these challenges together.
We use our philanthropic capital to advance products and services key to community well-being, even if their commercial viability is yet to be proven. In such instances, we may support pilot programmes to get data on their impact or viability. This data helps reduce the risk for governments and companies to participate in these projects. Our initiatives and platforms such as Co-Axis and the Philanthropy Asia Alliance can also crowd in funding to scale projects for greater collective impact.
Our impact measurement framework is centred on our 4Ps. Impact is measured at the portfolio level by articulating thematic focus areas, through investments by fund managers via ABC Impact and programming by our ecosystem entities, which have their own impact frameworks and collect data down to specific programmes. We regularly review our funding mandates to ensure their continued relevance and impact. We are also building capabilities for outcomes-based models like Pay-for-Success to enable more rigorous measurement and innovative delivery models.
We do not give out grants and typically disburse our funding through endowments for an ecosystem of entities that collectively advance our 4Ps of Planet, People, Peace, and Progress.
Temasek Foundation, our ecosystem entity that develops and delivers community programmes, administers grants to support and catalyse solutions that address pressing global challenges, from climate change to societal well-being. For example, its OSCAR fund aims to help communities uplift the vulnerable and foster an environment of care through ground-up, self-help philanthropic initiatives by citizens and residents. Learn more about the OSCAR fund here.
The Temasek Trust ecosystem can be grouped in three clusters with capabilities in Asset and Investment Management (AIM), Philanthropy and Impact (PI), and Socio-Economic Enterprise & Development (SEED). The ecosystem is united by a shared purpose of building better for every generation through advancing the 4Ps of Planet, People, Peace, and Progress. This is underpinned by the 5th P of Partnerships as we work with like-minded partners to scale our collective positive impact.
The Asset and Investment Management cluster, through Temasek Trust Asset Management, aims to generate sustainable cashflows to enable Temasek Trust to deliver on its purpose of building better for every generation.
The Philanthropy and Impact cluster consists of entities with their respective expertise in areas that collectively contribute towards Temasek Trust’s 4Ps of Planet, People, Peace, and Progress.
The Socio-Economic Enterprise & Development cluster aims to catalyse selected ecosystem entities to create shared value, delivering positive community impact and economic benefits to achieve long-term financial sustainability.
Temasek Trust Asset Management Pte Ltd (“TTAM”) is a Singapore-based global private equity asset management company dedicated to investing in positive outcomes for economies, societies, and the environment. TTAM holds a Capital Markets Services Licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and was established by Temasek Trust in 2019. TTAM consists of ABC Impact and Temasek Trust Capital. ABC Impact focuses on impact investing and aims to deliver measurable social and environmental returns alongside compelling risk-adjusted financial returns to its stakeholders. TTC is a returns-focused philanthropic multi-asset class manager that contributes to the vision of TTAM.
The philanthropy and impact cluster, the largest in the Temasek Trust ecosystem, comprises:
The Socio-Economic Enterprise & Development (SEED) cluster comprises:
Temasek Trust generally acts as a funder to its ecosystem entities. It sets the mandates and derives the desired impact outcomes with partners. More than just funding, Temasek Trust is also an ecosystem builder for good. We are building capacity and competency through the establishment of a new Asia Centre for Changemakers; building systems and knowledge for innovation through our Systems, Knowledge, and Innovation (SKI) Hub; building momentum in our solutioning through our Amplifier mentoring programme which will incubate and support promising impact startups, and building the infrastructure for an impact marketplace through Co-Axis, a digital marketplace to connect projects with funders who share the commitment to making impact. It will unlock and blend liquidity across the entire spectrum of capital.
The design of specific programmes and grants is left to its ecosystem entities which are nearer to the ground and better placed to carry out the work.
Temasek Trust brings its ecosystem entities together to align workplans towards achieving its long-term ecosystem strategy, capability-building, and for resource-sharing.
Temasek and Temasek Trust have different mandates.
Temasek is a commercial investor.
Temasek Trust invests and grows its funds as part of its role as a responsible steward. If not, its funds would be eroded by inflation.
Temasek Trust invests its funds through Temasek Trust Asset Management (TTAM) which consists of Temasek Trust Capital (TTC) and ABC Impact. TTC generates sustainable returns to power philanthropic outcomes. ABC Impact is an Asia-focused growth fund dedicated to impact investing. TTAM manages funds from Temasek and other donors. It aims to attract external philanthropic capital and build a resilient and diversified multi-asset portfolio that is impact differentiated.
Impact investing can effectively create solutions for environmental, social, and climate issues in the long term.
Temasek Trust launched the Centre for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP) in June 2022 to foster impact investing and its practices in Asia. CIIP aims to encourage and enable effective deployment of private capital by investors, companies, and philanthropists towards positive impact outcomes for the environment and well-being of communities.
To this end, CIIP builds knowledge assets to enhance capabilities and champion credible and practical industry standards. It convenes stakeholders by expanding the impact investing ecosystem in Asia and beyond. It also catalyses action by driving private capital allocation towards impact outcomes.
Less than 25% of the US$1 trillion global impact investing market is in Asia, presenting a compelling need and opportunity.
Co-Axis is a digital marketplace to connect projects with funders who share the commitment to making impact. It will unlock and blend liquidity across the entire spectrum of capital to help startups on their way to scalable impact and financial sustainability.
Today’s complex challenges demand bold collective action.
Temasek Trust initiated the Philanthropy Asia Alliance (PAA) to catalyse collaborative philanthropy in Asia through dynamic multi-sector partnerships.
PAA is an action-oriented global Alliance of members, programme partners, and domain experts. As of September 2023, its global community comprises over 80 members and partners, with collective pledges crossing US$777M (~S$1 billion) to catalyse solutions for our most pressing environmental and social challenges. By harnessing collective strengths, PAA amplifies positive impact and accelerates action to address the pressing environmental and social challenges of our time.
The evolving philanthropic landscape has given rise to new philanthropic models and a need for enhanced capabilities, requiring specialised and systematic upskilling of the philanthropic sector in Asia.
ACC will build capabilities and communities in Asia’s philanthropic ecosystem to support more collaborative and innovative ways of giving and driving impact.
While growing fast, Asia’s slice of the over US$1 trillion global impact market is still small. In 2023, less than 25% of global AUM was estimated to be allocated to Asia (GIIN, 2023).
Many early-stage impact ventures in the region do not survive the “valley of death”, a funding gap between the seed round and early stages of a startup. Startups need continued support and access to different resources at all growth stages.
The one-year Amplifier mentorship programme by CIIP and PAA aims to address Asia’s sustainable development challenges by enabling promising impact startups to bridge the ‘valley of death’ through building an ecosystem of industry players to catalyse philanthropic capital, mobilise collective action, and forge new pathways to create positive impact.
It brings together a range of ecosystem actors including corporates, investors, and professional services providers that will equip impact startups with the tools and skillsets needed to achieve commercial viability and sustainability.
MoneyOwl’s work in driving financial well-being is in line with Temasek Trust’s aims to uplift communities through holistic and inclusive education and advancing progress through capacity building. Together with like-minded partners across the public, private, and philanthropic sectors, Temasek Trust aims to further leverage and repurpose the capabilities, intellectual properties, and technology platforms of MoneyOwl to bolster the financial well-being of community groups.
You can visit the Temasek Trust Careers page for openings.