YAP CHWEE MEIN

In September 2007, the Singapore government-affiliated investor Temasek, established in 1974 to manage investments on behalf of the Singapore Government, experienced a dramatic staff shuffle. Managing directors Frank Tang and Terry Hu left the firm to form a new China-focused private equity firm, FountainVest Partners. The move was amicable and Temasek has since reportedly taken a stake in FountainVest's new fund with two Canadian pensions, but it did leave a hole in the roles these two were filling, particularly for Hu, who had been managing Temasek's institutional investment in China in the real estate cluster. Hu's duties have passed to Yap Chwee Mein, who had joined Temasek in 2004. Having come from the investment banking division of JPMorgan Singapore covering clients in Asia, she was already known in the investment management area. She had worked for JPMorgan's New York office in the capital markets team and the mergers and acquisitions group before moving to Asia. The 37-year-old investment manager, who holds a MBA from the University of Michigan, is now a managing director for Temasek's real estate cluster, responsible chiefly for investments in China. Since taking the reigns from Hu, Yap Chwee Mein is already being talked about as a rising star, and the growing power and influence of the organization she represents only increases her importance. “She's definitely very influential,” says one property fund manager. “She's very active, and very smart.” Temasek is known to be very fair and very commercial. They don't act like a government body at all.” So far Temasek has just invested in property funds dedicated to Asia, and 50 percent of its total investment portfolio is in that continent, according to data compiled by PEREConnect.. But the fund is becoming increasingly involved as an investor in Europe, North America and South Asia, and it seems likely that it will extend its property fund interest to those areas as well.