In his new role at DBS, which begins in September, Hou will be responsible for investment strategies, including global strategic and tactical asset allocations for the bank’s clients. He will report to Tan Su Shan, DBS’ group head of consumer banking and wealth management.
“We will continue to strengthen our franchise by adding to our talent pool and investing in technology,” Tan said in the statement.
Hou will replace Lim Say Boon, who spent seven years with the bank and will be leaving DBS to return to Australia for family reasons, according to the bank.
Hou’s most recent role was Bank of Singapore’s head of managed investments. The bank does not have a replacement yet and his responsibilies are being reshuffled among his team, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Hou also held other roles at BoS, including chief investment officer and head of discretionary portfolio management (DPM) and funds, according to the DBS statement. During his tenure, he was able to grow DPM assets to S$9bn ($6bn). He started his career at Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and also worked at OCBC Asset Management before joining ING Asia Private Bank, which was later renamed as BoS.
DBS’ assets under management for wealth customers was around S$171m ($126m) as of the end of March.
