Published by Fund Selector Asia – 27th Aug 2018
Rajeev De Mello has been appointed as Bank of Singapore’s chief investment officer after quitting Schroders earlier this year due to differing views about the direction of the firm’s Asia fixed income strategy.
Rajeev De Mello, Bank of Singapore
De Mello will replace Johan Jooste, who has been appointed as the bank’s head of rates, according to a Singapore-based spokesman at OCBC Bank, BOS’ parent. Jooste first joined the bank in 2016 as its CIO.
De Mello will oversee the bank’s research and investment strategy teams that produce Bank of Singapore’s house views across all asset classes. He will also be chairman of the bank’s investment committee that decides on the global strategic and tactical asset allocation calls for clients.
His role includes running the bank’s discretionary portfolio management, which saw assets grow 30% in 2017, according to the statement, which did not provide details.
Overall, Bank of Singapore’s AUM stood at $102bn as of the end of June, which is 14% higher than a year ago, according to the statement.
Before Bank of Singapore, De Mello was Schroder Investment Management’s head of fixed income and co-head of emerging market debt.
De Mello left Schroders early this year, Don Yew, Singapore-based analyst for manager research at Morningstar, said in a research note. Yew wrote that De Mello’s departure was “primarily triggered by differences in view between De Mello and the firm in terms of strategic direction for the Asian fixed income business”.
Schroders will not directly replace De Mello, according to Yew. On the business development front, Roy Diao, senior investment director for fixed income, will take on the role of head of Asian fixed income and will oversee Schroders’ Asian fixed income business, the governance of the investment process, as well as portfolio management, credit research and local product resources.
On the portfolio management side, Julia Ho and Chow Yang, who are portfolio managers for Asian rates and foreign exchange, will replace De Mello and co-manage both the Schroder ISF Asian Local Currency Bond Fund and the ISF Asian Bond Absolute Return Fund, Yew added.
FSA sought more information from Schroders , but the firm was not able to reply in time for publication.
