Bank of Singapore, the private banking arm of Singaporean lender OCBC, has appointed Owi S Ruivivar (呂 惠 華) to the newly created role of chief portfolio strategist to solidify the firm’s strategic focus on cross-asset research, asset allocation and portfolio management.
She 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.
Ruivivar is a seasoned investment manager with over 30 years of experience in economics, investment strategy and portfolio management.
She will be a member of the bank’s investment committee that decides on the strategic and tactical asset allocation calls for clients. Based in Singapore, she reports to global chief investment officer Jean Chia (谢佩华).
Her appointment is the latest in a concerted series of moves to differentiate the bank in investment and portfolio advisory.
Since January 2024, the Chief Investment Office (CIO) has been a standalone unit that reports directly to chief executive officer Jason Moo (巫毅盛). This year, the CIO has 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.
In May, Bank of Singapore launched a CIO global advisory council, comprising experts from leading think tanks and asset managers around the world, to augment its 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 market 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 US$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.
