SINGAPORE - Bank of Singapore (BOS), the private banking arm of OCBC Bank, on Monday (Aug 27) said it has appointed Rajeev De Mello as its chief investment officer (CIO), pending regulatory approval.

Based in Singapore since 2005, Mr De Mello was most recently the head of Asian fixed income, and co-head of emerging market debt at Schroders Investment Management, overseeing the investment teams in Singapore, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Taipei and Tokyo.

In his new role at BOS, Mr De Mello will oversee the research and investment strategy teams which produce the bank's house views across all financial asset classes.

He will also chair the bank's investment committee that decides on the global asset allocation calls for clients, and oversee its discretionary portfolio management (DPM), BOS said.

According to the bank, DPM is a service that is becoming more popular amongst clients who recognise that they are not able to monitor the markets closely, and prefer to leave their investments in the hands of professional managers.

Mr De Mello is a Swiss national with more than 30 years of experience in global financial markets, and spent 14 years in Asia, mainly in Singapore and Hong Kong.

He will report to BOS's global head of products, Marc Van de Walle.

Said Mr Van de Walle: "With the increasing market uncertainties, timely and insightful research capabilities will give investors a crucial advantage in identifying the most attractive risk-adjusted opportunities. That is why we have, over the past few years, expanded and deepened our research capabilities significantly to cope with a more challenging investing environment in the years ahead."

Mr De Mello's appointment comes at a time when BOS is growing. The bank obtained regulatory approval to set up a wealth management subsidiary in Luxembourg last month, and is also expanding its Hong Kong franchise to deepen its coverage in the Greater China region.

As at June 30, BOS's assets under management stood at US$102 billion, 14 per cent higher than a year ago.