Singlife with Aviva Strengthens Investment Office

Homegrown financial services company Singlife with Aviva has appointed Dr Allen Kuo as its Group Deputy Chief Investment Officer. He will strengthen specialist skills within the Investment Office and provide leadership and guidance as Singlife bolsters its asset management capabilities.

Based in Singapore, Allen will also oversee the implementation of Singlife’s sustainable investment strategy, reaffirming the company’s drive to championing ESG mandates. Allen brings with him over two decades of investment and risk management experience across multiple asset classes — specialising in quantitative finance and investment risk — accumulated from senior stints during his time in the US, China and Hong Kong.

Kim Rosenkilde, Group Chief Investment Officer, Singlife with Aviva, said: “As Singlife continues to make its presence in leading sustainability in financial services, getting the right talent on board and choosing impact investments is key to accelerating our efforts. I have no doubt that Allen’s wealth of experience will be a great asset to the team and look forward to working closely with him on our investment journey.”

Prior to joining Singlife, Allen was the Director and Deputy Chief Risk Officer of University of California’s Regents Chief Investment Office, the pension and endowment arm of the institution. With a prolific career in the financial sector, Allen has held senior positions at ING Investment Management as Head of Investment Risk Management, and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, and kickstarted one of the first “green” hedge funds in 2006.

With a PhD and Masters in Applied Physics and Mathematics from Columbia University as well as a Post Doctorate in Atmospheric Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Allen also has experience in academia as an Assistant Professor of Business Education teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Allen Kuo, Group Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Singlife with Aviva, said: “I am truly honoured to be joining Singlife, having seen the tremendous work that the young but dynamic investment team has accomplished in such a short space of time. I look forward to contributing more towards the Singlife mission of not only finding a better way to financial freedom.”

The Singlife Investment Office was established in January 2022 following the formalisation of Singlife with Aviva as a newly merged entity. The team’s responsibilities include asset allocation, portfolio optimisation, manager selection and product solutions. The appointees at Singlife’s Investment Office include:
 

• Mike Duncan, who joined as Senior Investment Officer and is responsible for all market related operations across front-to-back office. He brings over two decades of experience as an accomplished markets solution structurer, derivatives SME, financial markets advisory specialist and consultant working in the United Kingdom and Singapore. Prior to Singlife, Mike provided financial markets advisory and consultancy services for AIA Group and AIA Local Market Business units across Asia Pacific.
  
  
• Shae Kuek, who joined as Investment Officer and is responsible for asset allocation, fund selection, due diligence and product solutions. With nearly two decades of experience in Singapore’s financial services industry, Shae has held multiple positions across Citibank Singapore, Fidelity International, Natixis Investment Management and Aviva Financial Advisers, before the merger of Singlife and Aviva Singapore.
  
  
• Mervyn Ng, who joined as Investment Officer and is responsible for governance, embedding controls and overall business management. As a banking professional with 20 years of product, control and governance and consulting experience across global markets and wealth management, Mervyn brings his experience from working at IBM Business Consulting Services, Deutsche Bank and ANZ. Most recently, Mervyn was the Head of Control — Principal FX at ANZ.
  
  
• Dr William Chow, who joined as Investment Officer and is responsible for asset allocation, fund selection, due diligence and model portfolio development. Having decades of experience in the financial services sector, William brings his wealth of knowledge working from multiple banks, insurers and investment management firms from his time in Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.
   

In building a sustainable business through responsible investments, Singlife has co-seeded several sustainable funds since the start of 2022, committing US$50 million (approximately S$68.4 million) to the Altrium Sustainability Fund I, managed by Azalea Investment Management Pte Ltd. and indirectly owned by Temasek, as well as €100 million (approximately S$142.3 million) to the Copenhagen Infrastructure Green Credit Fund. To increase the company’s oversight of its sustainability performance, Singlife appointed European sustainability data provider Matter, enabling it to make recommendations on sustainable practices to create long-term ESG value for stakeholders.