Investment manager Ashmore Group seeks growth in Indonesia - Reports | Company data
(Insider Stories) – Emerging market-focused investment manager Ashmore Group PLC is betting on growth in Indonesia’s relatively undeveloped mutual fund market, opening its second Southeast Asia office in the country to take advantage of strong growth in the region’s biggest economy.
London-based Ashmore had a reported $77.7 billion under management as of March 31 and joins rivals like Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC) and Schroders PLC (SDR) in an economy that’s growing fast but where mutual funds are only equal to 3% of GDP compared with 31% in Malaysia and 23% in Thailand, PT Ashmore Asset Management Indonesia president Ronaldus Gandahusada says in wire service reports.
With the IDX up 16% this year after gaining 13% last year the reported 220,157 Indonesians who have mutual funds – less than 1% of the population – could increase.
Ashmore has been investing in Indonesia since 1992, buying sovereign dollar bonds and shares in companies in sectors like media, tobacco, palm oil and geothermal, while it still has a stake in Elang Mahkota Teknologi, which controls free-to-air SCTV, according to reports.
Ashmore Indonesia is in talks about selling its products via banks and expects to be able to sell via the lenders in a few months, Arief Wana, a director at the company, is quoted as saying.
Ashmore Indonesia president director Ronaldus Gandahusada has worked in fund management for around two decades, mostly at Schroders where he was previously president director. He owns 6% of Ashmore Indonesia and is reported to hold an engineering degree from the Bandung Institute of Technology and a Masters in finance from Sydney University of Technology.
