Ho, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, had for several years been expected to step down while the leadership transition to Pillay, a former corporate lawyer, was also widely anticipated by analysts.

In early 2019, Pillay was appointed CEO of Temasek International, the wholly-owned management and investment arm of Temasek Holdings. Pillay, who joined Temasek a decade ago, retains his role at Temasek International.

"Ho Ching has been very much part of this process," said Lim Boon Heng, chairman of Temasek Holdings, referring to Pillay's appointment.

"Indeed, she has been very active, working over the years to identify various potential successors both inside and outside of Temasek," he said.

Temasek is ranked among the world's biggest investors and had a net portfolio value of S$306 billion ($230 billion) in the year to March 2020.

Some of its key portfolio holdings include DBS Group, China Construction Bank, Alibaba Group and Standard Chartered Plc.

($1 = 1.3305 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Sam Holmes)

By Anshuman Daga