HLB's Flagship CIO Fund Launched with Strategic Alliance with Lombard Odier

The HLB Chief Investment Office combines regional expertise and agility with Lombard Odier's award-winning Chief Investment Office.

SINGAPORE, Sept. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- HLB Private Bank (or the "Bank") has officially announced the introduction of its flagship HLB Chief Investment Office Fund ("HLB CIO Fund" or the "Fund"), a landmark wholesale fund from HLB's Chief Investment Office ("CIO"). Conceived as the core foundation for all future portfolio construction across the Bank, the fund offers investors with direct access to premium, handpicked global assets, supported by HLB's 120 years of regional expertise and agility alongside Lombard Odier's 230-year global investment heritage and institutional scale.

Recognised as the World's Best Chief Investment Office at the 2025 Euromoney Private Banking Awards, and named Best Pure Play Private Bank for CIO Office & Discretionary Portfolio Management at the Asian Private Banker Awards for Distinction 2025, Lombard Odier brings its proprietary CIO research and portfolio engineering directly into HLB's wealth engine. By uniting this international pedigree with HLB's agile understanding of regional client needs, the Fund provides a powerful Discretionary Portfolio Management solution which strongly supports broad multi-asset diversification across global equities, fixed income, and specialised market instruments.

At the heart of the HLB CIO Fund is a rigorous curation engine that grants clients access to top-tier global opportunities including active fund managers, passive instruments, and high-conviction direct equity holdings, handpicked from a vast open-architecture universe of over 50,000 global funds. Integrated yield overlays further enhance cash generation through equity dividends, fixed-income coupons, and systematic options strategies, ensuring capital growth is paired with consistent portfolio income.

According to Jeffrey Yap, HLB's Managing Director and Regional Head of Wealth Management, "The true strength of the HLB CIO Fund lies in how we curate and deliver elite investment solutions to our clients. We have always advocated for strategic diversification as a solid foundation for long-term portfolio growth, and we look to provide investors with what we believe to be the best strategies and advisory available to achieve this. This institutional rigor is reflected in providing a premium portfolio handpicked specifically for Singapore and the wider region. As wealth management accelerates as a core growth area for the Bank, our commitment is to provide sophisticated, advice-driven solutions that give investors complete confidence across every market cycle."

Echoing this vision, Marc Giesbrecht, Deputy Global CIO, Head of Investment Management at Lombard Odier Group highlighted the strength of bringing joint global and regional CIO capabilities to the market.

"We are delighted to launch this fund alongside our Strategic Alliance partner HLB Private Bank, reflecting our shared commitment to delivering top-tier performance and investment experience rooted in a rigorous investment framework in an increasingly complex world. This strategy embodies the philosophy and House View of Lombard Odier, bringing together the full strength of our investment platform, combining the expertise of our CIO office, global research capabilities and portfolio construction expertise. The result is a differentiated solution designed to help investors achieve resilient and sustainable investment outcomes across market cycles."

Driven by its 3-to-5-year strategic transformation, HLB has accelerated innovation across its wealth management business, a commitment underscored by recent industry recognition. Highlights include winning Best Private Bank in Malaysia and Singapore at the WealthBriefingAsia Awards, as well as the Rising Star Private Bank Award for Malaysia and Best Private Bank for Wealth Creation & Preservation at the Global Private Banking Innovation Awards.

For more information, please visit: https://www.hlbank.com.sg/en/private-banking/home.html

 

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HLB's Flagship CIO Fund Launched with Strategic Alliance with Lombard Odier

BERLIN, Sept. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- At IFA 2026 in Berlin, visitors encountered the usual showcase of processors, displays, connected devices and technical specifications. But at the Metapen booth, the emphasis was less on watching technology and more on using it.

The approach reflects a broader change in consumer electronics. As products become more sophisticated, specifications alone do not always communicate their value. For many consumers, the first few seconds of using a product can be more revealing than a presentation.

A stylus is a good example. Its physical form is familiar, but its applications extend beyond traditional writing. Children can draw and explore digital creativity; students can take notes and annotate documents; professionals can sketch ideas, sign documents or work directly on a tablet.

At Metapen's IFA booth, one young visitor provided a simple illustration. A girl picked up a stylus and began interacting with the screen while her family watched nearby. There was no complicated explanation required. She simply started creating.

That interaction highlights an important principle in product design: technology does not always need to demand attention. When a stylus responds naturally, users can focus on what they want to write, draw or create rather than on how technology works.

Metapen has built its business around the stylus category, developing products for devices including iPad, Surface and Chromebook. Its lineup covers everyday digital writing as well as pressure-sensitive applications for drawing and creative work. The company focuses on making digital writing and creation more accessible through functionality, design and affordability.

This positioning reflects how the stylus market is evolving. Rather than treating a pen simply as an accessory to a tablet, Metapen presents it as part of the user experience—the point where hardware, software and human creativity meet.

The opportunity goes beyond the stylus. As digital learning, work and creative activities become part of everyday life, products that make technology feel more natural can play an increasingly important role.

IFA remains a place for companies to demonstrate technical innovation. But moments like the one at Metapen's booth suggest another way of evaluating technology: not only by what is inside a product, but by what happens when someone picks it up for the first time.

Sometimes, the most convincing product demonstration is simply watching someone use it—and enjoy the experience.

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More Than a Stylus: How Hands-On Experiences Are Changing the Way Consumer Electronics Are Presented