BNP Paribas Investment sets higher target of Rp 33 trillion this year

France-based investment management firm BNP Paribas Investment Partners forecasts an increase in the amount of assets it manages this year despite the recent decline in the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index (JCI).

President director Vivian Secakusuma said on Tuesday that the company expected to manage Rp 33 trillion (US$3.53 billion) in assets this year, a 15.8 percent increase from the Rp 28.5 trillion it managed last year.

She said that as of April the company’s assets under management already stood at Rp 29.64 trillion, 78 percent of which were in mutual funds and the remaining in discretionary funds.

Vivian said she was confident that the recent decline of the Jakarta Composite Index would not keep people from investing.

“Unlike in the 2008 stock market downturn, people are now more proficient. In this current market drop, they do not withdraw their investment. On the contrary, they are chipping in more,” she said during an investment seminar in Jakarta.

However, Bank Indonesia earlier said investors might dump risky assets and turn to safer havens, such as the US dollar, following a potential Greek euro zone exit and slowing economic growth in China, the world’s second largest economy, that could stall a global economic recovery.

This may further affect the JCI.

The JCI stood at 3,919 on the last trading on Tuesday, a 6.87 percent drop from 4,208 – the highest of the month on May 2. (yps/mtq)