Ivan Jaya of Commonwealth Bank’s wealth management and client growth division said the stellar growth of mutual funds in recent years had persuaded the bank to pursue the mutual fund business with greater vigor.

To support its expansion in the mutual fund industry Commonwealth Bank signed a business deal with Sucor Asset Management in Jakarta on Thursday to sell the latter’s new mutual fund product.

Financial Services Authority (OJK) data revealed that the investment in mutual funds doubled from Rp 272 trillion (US$19.13 billion) in 2016 to Rp 507 trillion in May this year. In line with the growth, Sucorinvest Equity Fund, one of the mutual funds managed by Sucor Asset Management, achieved a return of 66.2 percent during the last three years, far higher than the 21.9 percent recorded by the Jakarta Composite Index during the same period.

Succor Asset Management president director Jemmy Paul Wawointana said investment in equities and bonds also had a more promising outlook, especially after Bank Indonesia trimmed its policy rate in July, and hinted at further cuts in the following months.

Commonwealth Bank’s enthusiasm is in line with British financial giant Standard Chartered’s statistics, which have linked the nation’s growing middle class to the increasing appetite for various ways to manage their wealth.

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