By Katherine Griffiths Last Updated: 6:24PM GMT 06 Feb 2009  Changing faces at Temasek: Ho Ching steps down in favour of Chip Goodyear  The move prompted speculation that Ms Ho, the wife of Singapore's prime minister, was taking the blame for heavy losses on several high-profile investments such as Merrill Lynch and Barclays.  It signals a change of direction for Temasek, which has 40pc of its $134bn (£91bn) fund in financial services, including an 18pc stake in London-listed emerging markets bank Standard Chartered.  Mr Goodyear was at BHP from 1999 to 2007 and analysts said yesterday that he was likely to take Temasek into the commodities and mining sector. The group has almost no holdings in this area at the moment.  Mr Goodyear will be the first foreigner to run Temasek, which was set up by the Singaporean government in 1974 and is still 100pc state-owned. The senior team includes Simon Israel, a New Zealander who was recruited to Temasek from running the Asian operation of food group Danone.  Under Ms Ho, Temasek has become more transparent, publishing annual results and a breakdown of its investments. The fund management group says it makes all of its investment decisions on a commercial basis, independently of the state.  Temasek said yesterday that Ms Ho, 55, would hand over to Mr Goodyear over several months. He will succeed her on October 1.  Ms Ho said she had no regrets in leaving Temasek. "At the end of the day, what we hope to achieve is to put in place some things that go beyond us – that goes from one generation to the next, and hopefully carries the values and commitment that we have seen in Temasek." Temasek's chairman, S Dhanabalan, thanked Ms Ho for her "unflagging commitment".  Temasek is the smaller of Singapore's two sovereign wealth funds. The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) manages an estimated $300bn.
Ho Ching, chief executive of Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek, is    unexpectedly stepping down to be replaced by Chip Goodyear, the former boss    of mining group BHP Billiton.