Fund manager PT Indo Premier Investment Management is optimistic that it will be able to reach its target of total assets under management (AUM) by the end of this year, despite volatility in the capital market
und manager PT Indo Premier Investment Management is optimistic that it will be able to reach its target of total assets under management (AUM) by the end of this year, despite volatility in the capital market.
Indo Premier, a subsidiary of securities firm PT Indo Premier Securities, said it had not revised its 2013 target and was hopeful over its initial plan. It is aiming at booking a total of Rp 1.5 trillion (US$137.33 million) in AUM, rising by more than half from 2012, according to Indo Premier sales director Diah Sofiyanti.
'Our ETF [exchange traded funds] and protected fund products will be the major driver behind this year's achievement by contributing at least 40 percent each,' she said on Monday.
The remaining AUM will come from its fixed-income funds with 15 percent and a combination of balanced funds and discretionary funds with the other 5 percent. At the moment, Indo Premier has 11 products, including four ETFs.
Indo Premier president director John D. Item said the bearish market turned out to be an appeal for its clients, especially local individual ones, as the number of its subscriptions had surged by around 50 percent during the past three months. 'Our local investors are rational enough to enter the stock market at these times,' he said.
As of August, Indo Premier's AUM stood at Rp 1.2 trillion, rising by more than 20 percent from the beginning of this year and was 50 percent higher than the same period in 2012. However, despite an increase in its local individual investors, foreign institutions ' insurance firms, foundations and pension funds management companies ' remain the biggest contributors to the AUM portfolio, according to John.
Diah said the company would also rely on its first equity funds product, to be offered this month, to help reach the 2013 target. 'But the contribution will still be small. We hope to manage at least Rp 100 billion within a year after the product is introduced,' she said.
Data from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) shows that the net asset value (NAV) of existing mutual funds continued to increase between January and August. From early January until Aug. 13, the NAV surged by 5.1 percent to Rp 232.92 trillion.
Compared to a year ago, the NAV had risen by more than 16 percent. Equity funds remained the most preferred by investors, followed by protected funds, fixed income funds, balanced funds, money market funds, ETF and index funds.
Its total number of units increased as well, reaching 117.38 billion as of Aug. 13 from 112.24 billion in January. According to the OJK, the results mirror higher investors' interests in the mutual funds market.
Contacted separately, Infovesta Utama analyst Vilia Wati said consumer goods and infrastructure would continue to be the two main sectors resilient to changes in the market and would offer better prospects for investors compared to the automotive, property, banking and multifinance sectors, citing their high exposure to interest rates.
Infovesta estimated that the capital market would rebound in the fourth quarter, supported by the expected improvement the country's economy. 'However, we have revised our year-end JCI [Jakarta Composite Index] target to 4,570 from the previous 4,950,' Vilia said.
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