Eastspring Investments, the asset management business of Prudential plc, today announced the appointment of Ray Farris as its first chief economist, effective immediately, according to a statement by the firm.
In this newly created role, he will be responsible for driving economic analysis and insights for both Prudential and Eastspring.
At Eastspring, Farris (pictured) will provide macroeconomic data, trends and insights to guide investment and asset allocation decisions. At Prudential, he will provide macroeconomic views and research in alignment with an evolving global macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape.
Based in Singapore, he will report to Eastspring Investments’ chief investment officer Vis Nayar.
With more than three decades of experience as an economist and strategist for international financial services firms, Farris has led research in economics, markets and policy across three continents.
He spent 22 years at Credit Suisse in various leadership roles, most recently as global chief economist and chief investment officer for the Americas based in New York. From 2001 to 2022, he was mainly based in Singapore with Credit Suisse, in various positions including chief investment officer for South Asia, and head of Asia economics and fixed income strategy. He started his career in Hong Kong in 1991 as head of economics and equity strategy at Crosby Securities.
Bill Maldonado, chief executive officer, Eastspring Investments, said, “Ray joins us at a pivotal time, against a global macroeconomic backdrop marked by heightened uncertainty and complexity. We look forward to his contributions as we continue to foster knowledge exchange to further improve asset allocation and financial outcomes”.
