Bank of Singapore (BOS) has appointed former GIC executive Owi S. Ruivivar as its chief portfolio strategist. Based in Singapore, she will focus on the private bank’s cross-asset research, asset allocation and portfolio management, says BOS on June 3.
In the newly-created role, Ruivivar will be a member of the BOS’s investment committee, which decides on the strategic and tactical asset allocation calls for clients. She reports to BOS’s global chief investment officer Jean Chia.
Ruivivar joins from GIC, where she spearheaded investment-oriented thematic research at the sovereign wealth fund’s 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.
During her time at GIC, 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 in 2019, Ruivivar had spent 17 years 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 ($81.02 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 Bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University and a doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ruivivar is fluent in English and French, and proficient in Filipino.
BOS’s Chia says 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.”
See also: Bank of Singapore appoints Rickie Chan as chief executive of its Hong Kong branch
Chia adds: “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.”
This is the latest in a string of appointments at BOS, most notably when global CEO Jason Moo joined from Julius Baer in March 2023.
Rickie Chan, CEO of BOS's Hong Kong branch, was appointed in February this year. He was formerly Credit Suisse’s CEO of its Hong Kong branch and its head of global wealth management for Greater China.
Like Ruivivar, Moo and Chan had also worked at Goldman Sachs. The tenures of the two men overlapped between 1998 and 2012.
Photo: Bank of Singapore
