Temasek, Singapore’s state investment agency, reported a second year of weak net profit in its annual performance review yesterday, and forecast “slower growth in many markets” for the nearer term.

While the fund’s portfolio of investments – more than 70 per cent of which is in listed assets – rose to a record S$215bn ($169bn) as of the end of March, from $198bn a year ago, net profit slipped to $10.6bn, from $10.7bn a year earlier, on “lower contributions from portfolio companies”.

One area of concern is the big bet that Temasek has made in Chinese banks. Eight per cent alone of its equities portfolio is in China Construction Bank, and Temasek bought or increased stakes in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Ping An during the financial year.