State worker insurance company PT Jamsostek revealed its plans Tuesday to invest up to Rp 4 trillion (US$400 million) in bonds over the next four months to balance its portfolio and gain more sustainable returns.
“We will allocate between Rp 3 trillion and Rp 4 trillion in bonds until December this year,” Jamsostek investment director Elvyn G. Masasya said in Jakarta.
According to Elvyn, the company has reviewed the possibility of investing bonds issued by both private and state companies. It was reported earlier that the company planned to purchase bonds from the state-owned oil and gas producer PT Pertamina.
“Actually we will still review which bonds to get, but we expect the new investment will boost our returns,” Elvyn said, adding the company expected to gain Rp 6.8 trillion in returns by the end of the year.
Jamsostek collects premiums from its members until retirement age, and in return covers payments for accidents, dismissals, layoffs and health treatments as well as pensions.
Managing director of investment banking at PT Danareksa, Marciano H. Herman, said the bond market was in a good mood as many corporate companies were issuing bonds.
“Companies prefer to invest their money in bonds because the rates are higher than deposits,” Marciano said, while adding the total value of bond issuances by domestic companies could reach up to Rp 30 trillion this year.
“Currently, there is about Rp 14 trillion worth of bonds on the bond market,” Marciano said.
In the first semester of this year, Jamsostek posted returns of Rp 4.6 trillion from a total investment of Rp 70.5 trillion.
The company also reported that the largest portion of its returns was from investment in bonds, which reached Rp 33 trillion, or 47 percent of its total value of investment in the first semester.
This year Jamsostek plans to place 50 percent of its investments in bonds, 20 percent in time
deposits, 15 percent in stocks and the rest in mutual funds and direct investment.
As of Aug. 31, Jamsostek invested Rp 72 trillion, reaching its annual investment target.
“Our total investment by the end of the year will be higher than that,” Elvyn said, adding that he predicted Jamsostek would invest at least Rp 74 trillion by the end of this year, an increase from a total of Rp 68.7 trillion invested last year.
Besides planning to invest more money in bonds and other types of securities, Jamsostek has also distributed Rp 200 billion of the Rp 4 trillion allocated to housing loans through state banks to provide houses for its members.
So far, BNI and BTN state banks have been running Jamsostek’s housing loan program. (naf)
