Temasek's employees cost an average of 52million EACH

[corydorus]

I am no fan of HC. To be fair, Temasek CEO will not see that amount of money even after hotels, flights, salary and pension. How he derived $52M per employee is ridiculous conclusion.

[HitandRun]

Balding is an idiot. His methods are suspect and his conclusions are ridiculous...Read his stuff only if you are looking for entertainment.

Temasek investment record of huge losses are well known. Balding's entertainment probably reveals more hard truths which idiots find it hard to accept.

Wow! I touched a raw nerve. Perhaps I am the ignorant one. Can you kindly advise why Balding's assertion that the operating cost per Temasek employee is reasonable and correct as compared with Goldman Sachs? (Clue: SIA, Singtel, ST Engineering, etc. are all subsidiaries of Temasek and definitely has more than 400 employees the last time I checked)

[propertyinvestor]

Balding is an idiot. His methods are suspect and his conclusions are ridiculous...Read his stuff only if you are looking for entertainment.

Are you calling a professor an idiot?



http://www.phbs.pku.edu.cn/content.asp?id=199

Christopher Balding

Contact Information:
Office Room: RM 406, Building C
Office Phone Number: +86-755-2603-2021
Fax (office): +86-755-2603-5344
Email: cbalding@phbs.pku.edu.cn

Research Fields:
International Economics and Political Economics

Education:
PhD, Political Economics, University of California
MA, International Economics, The George Washington University
BA, International Affairs, The George Washington University Professional Service
Referee - The American Economic Review
Editorial Advisory Board - International Research Journal of Finance and Economics

Working Experience:
Research Associate, Capital Studies Division, The Milken Institute
Teaching assistant, courses in international business and statistics, University of California, Irvine
Junior Vice President of Research, Private Equity Division, Cee & Gee Funding
Research Associate, European Commission
Assistant Project Administrator, Chemonics International
Legal Clerk, Hunter Hale International
Professional Services
Referee - The American Economic Review, The Journal of International Trade and Economic Development
Editorial Advisory Board - International Research Journal of Finance and Economics

Publications:
“Joining the WTO: What is the Impact?”, forthcoming Review of International Economics
“The Two Sided Market Clearing Institution Under Asymmetric Supply Constraints: The Market for Adoption and Abortion in the United States” forthcoming Journal of Public Economic Theory
“Re-examining the Impact of Democracy, Institutions, and International Trade”, forthcoming Journal of International Trade and Economic Development
“A Portfolio Analysis of Sovereign Wealth Funds”, forthcoming in The Rise and Implications of Sovereign Wealth Fund and State Owned Enterprise Investment edited by Catherine Rae, Warwick McKibbin, and Justin O’Brien
“Who’s Afraid of Sovereign Wealth Funds?”, Revie d’economie Financiere March 2009
“Chinese Mergers and Acquisitions Indicator”, Xinhua Finance Milken Institute China Indicators Background Brief, March 2008
“Joining the WTO: What is the Impact?”, RESUBMIT to Review of International Economics
“The Economics of State Building: A Review of Institutions and Paradoxes”, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, Vol. 2 No. 1 pp. 99-120

Working Papers:
“The Two Sided Market Clearing Institution Under Asymmetric Supply Constraints: The Market for Adoption and Abortion in the United States”
“Re-examining the Impact of Democracy, Institutions, and International Trade”
“A Portfolio Analysis of Sovereign Wealth Funds”
“Credit Pricing of Sovereign Emerging Market Debt: Uncertainty and Contagion”
“A Gravity Model Application to Chinese Development: The Role of Government Investment and FDI”
“The Role of World Bank Lending in Chinese Economic Development, Poverty Reduction, and Social Adjustment”
“Separating Selection Effects from Election Effects: Explanations of Women’s Representation in Seven Western Democracies”

---

Dr Christopher Balding is currently an Assistant Professor at the HSBC Business School, Peking University. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and Masters in International Economics respectively at The George Washington University, and subsequently obtained his PhD in Political Economics from the University of California. Earlier this year, he published a working paper entitled “A Brief Research Note on Temasek Holdings and Singapore: Mr. Madoff Goes to Singapore”. His research interests lie in the area of International and Political economics. He currently blogs at www.baldingsworld.com.

[flinger]

if a person comes up with idiotic conclusions, it does not matter if you are a profession or not.

This is very obvious in the current U.S. Senators and house members. A lot of idiotic talks wasting people's time.

Balding is an idiot. His methods are suspect and his conclusions are ridiculous...Read his stuff only if you are looking for entertainment.

Are you calling a professor an idiot?



http://www.phbs.pku.edu.cn/content.asp?id=199

Christopher Balding

Contact Information:
Office Room: RM 406, Building C
Office Phone Number: +86-755-2603-2021
Fax (office): +86-755-2603-5344
Email: cbalding@phbs.pku.edu.cn

Research Fields:
International Economics and Political Economics

Education:
PhD, Political Economics, University of California
MA, International Economics, The George Washington University
BA, International Affairs, The George Washington University Professional Service
Referee - The American Economic Review
Editorial Advisory Board - International Research Journal of Finance and Economics

Working Experience:
Research Associate, Capital Studies Division, The Milken Institute
Teaching assistant, courses in international business and statistics, University of California, Irvine
Junior Vice President of Research, Private Equity Division, Cee & Gee Funding
Research Associate, European Commission
Assistant Project Administrator, Chemonics International
Legal Clerk, Hunter Hale International
Professional Services
Referee - The American Economic Review, The Journal of International Trade and Economic Development
Editorial Advisory Board - International Research Journal of Finance and Economics

Publications:
“Joining the WTO: What is the Impact?”, forthcoming Review of International Economics
“The Two Sided Market Clearing Institution Under Asymmetric Supply Constraints: The Market for Adoption and Abortion in the United States” forthcoming Journal of Public Economic Theory
“Re-examining the Impact of Democracy, Institutions, and International Trade”, forthcoming Journal of International Trade and Economic Development
“A Portfolio Analysis of Sovereign Wealth Funds”, forthcoming in The Rise and Implications of Sovereign Wealth Fund and State Owned Enterprise Investment edited by Catherine Rae, Warwick McKibbin, and Justin O’Brien
“Who’s Afraid of Sovereign Wealth Funds?”, Revie d’economie Financiere March 2009
“Chinese Mergers and Acquisitions Indicator”, Xinhua Finance Milken Institute China Indicators Background Brief, March 2008
“Joining the WTO: What is the Impact?”, RESUBMIT to Review of International Economics
“The Economics of State Building: A Review of Institutions and Paradoxes”, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, Vol. 2 No. 1 pp. 99-120

Working Papers:
“The Two Sided Market Clearing Institution Under Asymmetric Supply Constraints: The Market for Adoption and Abortion in the United States”
“Re-examining the Impact of Democracy, Institutions, and International Trade”
“A Portfolio Analysis of Sovereign Wealth Funds”
“Credit Pricing of Sovereign Emerging Market Debt: Uncertainty and Contagion”
“A Gravity Model Application to Chinese Development: The Role of Government Investment and FDI”
“The Role of World Bank Lending in Chinese Economic Development, Poverty Reduction, and Social Adjustment”
“Separating Selection Effects from Election Effects: Explanations of Women’s Representation in Seven Western Democracies”

---

Dr Christopher Balding is currently an Assistant Professor at the HSBC Business School, Peking University. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and Masters in International Economics respectively at The George Washington University, and subsequently obtained his PhD in Political Economics from the University of California. Earlier this year, he published a working paper entitled “A Brief Research Note on Temasek Holdings and Singapore: Mr. Madoff Goes to Singapore”. His research interests lie in the area of International and Political economics. He currently blogs at www.baldingsworld.com.

[wee]

Balding is an idiot. His methods are suspect and his conclusions are ridiculous...Read his stuff only if you are looking for entertainment.

Temasek investment record of huge losses are well known. Balding's entertainment probably reveals more hard truths which idiots find it hard to accept.

Pray tell, what "hard truths" can one learn from Balding's analysis and conclusions?

Using the same methodology, the berkshire hathaway group incurs about US$128bn expenses in 2011 and they has about 20 employees in their world headquarters. So US$6.4 BILLION cost per employee, including Buffett's secretary, and the tea lady?

---

From Balding's post:

"To try and get an idea of how big a bonus Temasek senior management is awarding itself for not beating its own internal hurdle rate, let’s compare the Temasek management costs to that of other investors that disclose their costs. Temasek lists its operating expenses in its group income statements. To make a fair comparison, I add up their Selling & Distribution, Administrative, and Other Operating Expenses but exclude their Finance costs."

So, Balding is saying, to get an idea of the bonus paid to senior management, he proceed to add up all SELLING& DISTRIBUTION, ADMINISTRATIVE, and OTHER OPERATING EXPENSES in its GROUP INCOME STATEMENTS and divide by the employees of Temasek holdings?

That is really smart.

[wsreader]

Our forumers are conversant with financial statements. Balding's method of staff cost computation is not going to mislead us.

[CityFarmer]

I am pretty sure Dr Christopher Balding is not an idiot

A smart guy make a ridiculous conclusion base on obviously flaw data. The only reason is he did it with a hidden agenda

[EFG]

Firstly, Temasek split itself into many smaller sub companies for various functions with a different name. e.g. IT, Events management...etc, I'm not sure 400 headcount is correct.

Well, I do know that they paid themselves very well when things are going good. A regular admin staff was paid a bonus of 8 months for FY2010/11 and had company sponsored trips to Korea, Gold Coast for company get together sessions... Sounds like great place to work in isn't it :-)

On the other hand, if business aren't good, they have some sort of penalty scheme but can't remember how that works.

[HitandRun]

Are you calling a professor an idiot?

Of course! What is more important in the democratic market place of ideas? Reputation or the idea itself?

[kazukirai]

The professor's post, starting from the headline itself, comes across as rather sensationalist.
He may be no idiot but I don't believe Temasek is staffed with idiots either. No one puts self-incriminating figures in a publicly available document where any Tom, Dick or Harry can make simple computations and draw incredulous conclusions such as these.
If his post gets viral enough, I'm willing to bet Temasek's response will paint a clearer picture which would easily refute his claims.

Also, Balding is an Economics prof. Looking at his CV, it doesn't seem like he's a Financial Economics guy either. I would question how familiar he is with Accounting standards. Let's be wary of the Halo effect. Just because the guy has a Phd doesn't mean he's an expert in other fields.

Btw, I'm no fan of HC and Temasek either. I don't think their performance is out of this world given the advantages they have in the form of having been supported by the privatisation wave of GLCs.