Mr Daren Smith is Chief Investment Officer at the National University of Singapore. An accomplished investment executive, Daren brings over two decades of experience building and leading global institutional investment programmes across public and private markets, including for sovereign wealth funds, endowments and pension plans in North America and the Middle East. 

Daren was most recently the Chief Investment Officer, Global Equities, at the Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC), where his team was responsible for a multi-billion-dollar public equities portfolio. During his tenure, he led a restructuring of the portfolio that resulted in significant benchmark outperformance. He also served as a voting member of ADIC’s Investment Committee, evaluating and approving investments across asset classes.

Prior to ADIC, Daren spent 13 years at the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation, including five years as President and Chief Investment Officer, where he was responsible for all aspects of the business, including the overall leadership and stewardship of the organisation’s investment activities. He also held senior investment and actuarial roles at Keel Capital, Maritime Life and Sun Life Financial. 

Daren’s investment approach is shaped by deep professional experience and formal training in statistics, economics and actuarial science. He holds a Master of Arts in Economics from McMaster University, a Master of Science in Statistics from the University of British Columbia, and a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science from the University of Western Ontario.

He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), and Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designations, and is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA) and the Society of Actuaries (FSA).