球最具影响力的主权财富基金之一新加坡淡马锡控股（Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd.）不久将开始寻找负责运营的新人选。在这个面积很小的城市国家，由什么人、内部人士还是外面的人，来掌管其1,350亿美元的投资组合，这个问题已经引发了极大争议。
许 多处于领导层变动中的机构都会面临同样的问题，但淡马锡的执掌者人选尤其敏感的原因在于，作为国有投资基金它掌控着如此之多的国家财富，而本地人才相对有 限意味着外人通常是外国人──过去一次在海外招募的行动结果很糟糕。矿业巨头必和必拓(BHP Billiton Ltd.)前任首席执行长、美国人顾之博(Charles “Chip” W. Goodyear)原本会成为淡马锡的首任外国总裁，但他在上任前三个月的2009年7月宣布不出任淡马锡总裁一职。
虽然双方都只说这次分手是因为“战略分歧”，但知情人士说，顾之博不喜欢淡马锡的投资方法，而且他还认为淡马锡内部责任不明。
淡马锡的一些内部人士说，他们还是觉得需要一位外部人士来重组业务，让管理风格更接近于国际投资公司，从而最终提振投资回报。观察人士说，雇请外国专业人士运营主权财富基金总体上会让这类机构在海外进行交易更容易，进行海外交易时，主权基金与政府的关系可能会带来问题。
淡 马锡说，现任首席执行长何晶(Ho Ching)的可见的将来仍将留任。熟悉淡马锡运营情况的人士说，本月开始担任淡马锡新总裁和执行董事的谢福华(Hsieh Fu Hua)主要负责寻找何晶的继任人选。何晶是新加坡总理李显龙(Lee Hsien Loong)的夫人。
淡马锡执行董事伊斯雷尔(Simon Israel)说，谢福华的职责远不止寻找何晶的潜在继任者。在人口370万的新加坡，利用外国人才担任公司高层职位是一个受到强烈争议的话题。
新加坡财政部长尚达曼(Tharman Shanmugaratnam)去年8月对国会议员们说，理想情况是让一位新加坡人担任首席执行长，同时强调政府内阁非常仔细地考虑和讨论了首席执行长国籍的问题。
淡马锡董事长达纳巴兰(S. Dhanabalan)说，顾之博离开后，让非新加坡籍人士担任首席执行长是好事，因为这有助于显示我们并非由政府掌控。淡马锡并不将自己描述成主权财富基金──它的管理层不喜欢这个说法──而是一家试图实现长期回报最大化的专业投资公司。
The search for a new boss to run Singapore's Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., one of the world's most influential sovereign-wealth funds, will soon get under way. Within this small city-state, just who will take charge of its US$135 billion portfolio, an insider or an outsider, has become a deeply controversial question.
Many institutions in the middle of a leadership change struggle with the same question, but it is especially sensitive with a state-owned investment fund controlling so much national wealth, where a limited local talent pool means outsiders are often foreigners -- and when a past effort to recruit abroad ended badly. CEO-designate Charles 'Chip' W. Goodyear, an American and former chief executive of mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd., quit in July 2009, three months before he was scheduled to become Temasek's first foreign boss.
While the two sides cited only 'strategic differences' for the split, people familiar with the situation said Mr. Goodyear was unhappy with Temasek's approach to investing and what he saw as a lack of accountability within the organization.
Some people within Temasek said they still feel it needs an outsider to shake up the business and bring in management practices more common at international investment companies that could ultimately boost returns. Observers said hiring foreign professionals to run sovereign-wealth funds in general could make it easier for them to do deals abroad where government connections can be problematic.
Temasek said Ho Ching, its current chief executive, will remain CEO for the foreseeable future. People familiar with Temasek's operations said Hsieh Fu Hua, who begins work this month as the state investor's new president and executive director, will be mainly responsible for identifying suitable candidates to succeed Ms. Ho, who is married to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Simon Israel, an executive director at Temasek, said Mr. Hsieh's 'mandate is much broader' than looking at potential successors to Ms. Ho. Using foreign talent to fill top corporate posts is a hotly debated topic in Singapore, with a population of 3.7 million residents.
Singapore's finance minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, told lawmakers last August that 'ideally, we should have a Singaporean as the CEO,' noting also that the cabinet 'considered very carefully and debated' the question of the CEO's nationality.
Temasek's Chairman S. Dhanabalan said after Mr. Goodyear's departure that 'it would be nice to have a non-Singaporean as a CEO because it will help underline that we are not controlled by the government.' Temasek describes itself not as a sovereign-wealth fund -- a term its executives dislike -- but rather as a professional investment company trying to maximize its long-term returns.