Tuesday, 16 July 2024
Bank of Singapore appoints chief portfolio strategist for asset allocation
Bank of Singapore announced the appointment of a chief portfolio strategist, to solidify the bank’s strategic focus on cross-asset research, asset allocation and portfolio management.
This newly created role will lead the charge in developing a systematic, robust and risk-based multi-asset allocation framework that will guide clients as they build long-term investment
portfolios.
Owi S. Ruivivar, a seasoned investment manager with over 30 years of experience in economics, investment strategy and portfolio management, has assumed the chief portfolio strategist role today. Based in Singapore, Ruivivar will be a member of the bank’s investment committee that decides on the strategic and tactical asset allocation calls for clients. She reports to Bank of Singapore’s global chief investment officer Jean Chia.
With quality investment and portfolio advisory at the forefront of Bank of Singapore’s corporate strategy, the appointment is the latest in a concerted series of moves to differentiate the bank in this area.
Since January 2024, the Chief Investment Office (CIO) has been a standalone unit that reports directly to CEO Jason Moo. This year, the CIO has also implemented a market leading wealth management and investment management technology platform to enhance the client experience through its client portfolio analysis and portfolio construction capabilities, which is already widely used by asset managers and institutional investors. Bank of Singapore is one of the first private banks in Asia to adopt the platform for private banking clients. In May 2024, Bank of Singapore launched a CIO Global Advisory Council, comprising experts from leading think tanks and asset managers around the world, to augment the bank’s research capabilities and develop relevant insights for clients.
Ruivivar joins from Singapore’s GIC where she spearheaded investment-oriented thematic research at the Economics and Investment Strategy department. She also led the Future Markets investing team, which oversaw multi-asset investments across private and public markets in frontier emerging markets countries. During her tenure, Ruivivar launched the GIC Research Network, which built cross-departmental research communities to leverage insights across the company and scale ideas for the total portfolio’s benefit.
Prior to GIC, Ruivivar spent 17 years (2002 – 2019) with Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) where she was a founding portfolio manager of its Lipper-awarded Emerging Market debt franchise, responsible for over $60 billion in assets. She relocated from New York to Singapore in 2010, to establish and oversee GSAM’s Asia fixed income business. Previously, Ruivivar held roles at BNP Paribas and the International Monetary Fund.
Ruivivar graduated with a B.A. in Economics (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT). In recognition of her academic achievements, she has been awarded various scholarships and fellowships, including the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, MIT Graduate Fellowship, John Harvard Scholarship, Harvard College Scholarship and Agassiz Scholarship.
Ruivivar is fluent in English and French and proficient in Filipino. She is an avid practitioner of Iyengar yoga, and has interests in youth mentoring, surfing, snowboarding, samba dancing, and travelling, amongst other pursuits.
Jean Chia, global chief investment officer, Bank of Singapore, said: “Building intellectual capital is a key part of the bank’s strategy to become the top private bank in Asia. In today’s knowledge-driven economy, we aim to enhance our competitive advantage by hiring and developing talent in research and portfolio management capabilities. That is why we have,
over the past years, expanded and deepened our research capabilities significantly to cope with a more challenging investing environment in the years ahead. Owi comes with vast experience and deep expertise, and I believe she will become an integral part of a strong and diverse team of investment professionals further differentiating the bank’s investment franchise.”
Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker
