The Singapore-headquartered independent wealth and investment house has added an economist to its roster of senior figures.

Independent wealth management house Thirdrock Group, one of a number of such firms growing in Asia during recent years, has appointed Jamus Lim as economist, filling what the business said was a gap in its skillset.

Jamus is based in Singapore and will report to founder and chief executive, Jason Lai.

Previously, he worked at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority where he was lead economist. Before that, he was a senior economist with the World Bank where he led a number of research initiatives on long-term economic forecast, trade and finance in the Middle East and East Asia and governance and human development in Africa. Jamus, who is also an associate professor of economics at ESSEC Business School in Singapore, graduated with first-class honours from the University of Southern Queensland and went on to graduate work at the London School of Economics, the University of California and Harvard University.

“The addition of Jamus as Economist to the investment team fills an important strategic gap in our research expertise and enables us to serve our clients better with valuable, cutting-edge investment insights,” Lai said.

Among other developments, Thirdrock late last year partnered with Singapore-headquartered fintech investment platform Fundnel to help mid-stage, high-growth companies (typically Series B onwards) obtain funding more efficiently and quickly. The partnership blends Fundnel’s deal assessment technology with Thirdrock’s investment mandate. It helps to connect Asian companies with relevant investors.