Bank of Singapore today announced the appointment of a Chief Portfolio Strategist (首席投资组合策略师), 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.
Dr Owi S. Ruivivar (呂惠華), 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, Dr 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 (环球首席投资官) Jean Chia (谢佩华).
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 Chief Executive Officer (首席执行官) Jason Moo (巫毅盛). This year, the Chief Investment Office 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.
Dr 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, Dr 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, Dr 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 USD 60 billion in assets. She relocated from New York to Singapore in 2010, to establish and oversee GSAM’s Asia fixed income business. Previously, Dr Ruivivar held roles at BNP Paribas and the International Monetary Fund.
Dr 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, the MIT Graduate Fellowship, the John Harvard Scholarship, the Harvard College Scholarship and the Agassiz Scholarship.
Dr 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.
Ms 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.”
About Bank of Singapore
Bank of Singapore is the dedicated private banking subsidiary of OCBC. Backed by OCBC’s strong credit ratings of Aa1 by Moody’s and AA- by both Fitch and S&P, it offers a unique value proposition as a safe Singapore-registered private bank.
Its open-architecture product platform backed by strong research capabilities provides clients with first-class private banking and bespoke wealth planning solutions. It is also able to leverage OCBC’s capabilities to extend its clients a broad array of services across the OCBC’s regional and international network.
Bank of Singapore serves high net worth individuals and wealthy families in its key markets of Asia, Greater China, the Indian subcontinent and other international markets.
Headquartered in Singapore, Bank of Singapore has branches in Hong Kong and DIFC (Regulated by the DFSA), with a representative office in Manila. In Europe, the bank serves clients through BOS Wealth Management Europe Société Anonyme (S.A.) which is headquartered in Luxembourg and has a London office. In Malaysia, it serves its clients through BOS Wealth Management Malaysia Berhad. Its strong performance has won it numerous industry recognitions. Bank of Singapore was named Best Overall Asia Private Bank by WealthBriefing Asia and World’s Best for ESG Investing by Euromoney in 2023.
For more information, please visit www.bankofsingapore.com.
