JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) will allow investment managers to invest up to 100 percent of Islamic mutual funds that have offshore assets, said one official on Thursday.
Fund manager PT Aberdeen Asset Management wants to gain the new rule by preparing to sell the first Islamic mutual funds with offshore asset in first quarter of 2016.
OJK Director for Investment Management Sujanto, said the agency is gearing up to introduce shariah-based mutual funds with offshore assets next year in an attempt to boost the country’s shariah financing pool.
The funds will be able to invest in member countries of the International Organization of Securities Commissions, such as South and North American countries, but also countries like France, South Korea and the United Kingdom,.
Sujanto said that at least four investment companies have expressed interest to launch shariah-based mutual fund products with offshore assets, but he declined to name the companies.
According to President Director and CEO of Abeerden Sigit Pratama Wiryadi, the firm is eyeing to be one of the country’s top five fund managers by assets under management (AUM) Rp 8 trillion ($582.94 million) in the next five years.
“We are also thinking to issue the Islamic mutual funds in US dollar denomination. Insha Allah (God Willing) it will be launched in Q1 of 2016,” he said.
Abeerdent, as part of Scotland-based Aberdeen Asset Management Plc, was launched in December last year after its overseas headquarters completed the acquisition of 80 percent of the shares of PT NISP Asset Management in September 2014.
The conditional sale and purchase agreement (CSPA) on the acquisition was signed in February last year by Aberdeen through its Singapore-based unit Aberdeen Asset Management Asia and local brokerage house PT NISP Sekuritas.
NISP Sekuritas is affiliated with a mid-sized lender in Indonesia PT Bank OCBC NISP (NISP).
Sigiti explained, that the products, previous offered by NISP Asset Management were restructured and re-branded. The total managed assets last year reached around Rp2.3 trillion.
Globally, Aberdeen had a total $504.12 billion in assets under management as of December last year, according to the company’s published statement. As much as $119.4 billion of that value came from the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan.
The Aberdeen Group has invested a total $4.2 billion in Indonesia, which consists of $2.5 billion in equities and $1.7 billion in bonds, including government ones.
Meanwhile, one of the largest fund manager in the country, PT Schroder Investment Management Indonesia, expects its asset under management (AUM) to grow 15 percent next year.
Over the last six months, the fund manager has seen its AUM fall to Rp65 trillion ($4.7 billion) from previously Rp 72 trillion in line with a slump in the stock market.
Schroder senior fund manager Irawanti expects this year’s net income to expand 10 percent-13 percent.
The government has settled on a 5.3 percent growth target for 2016 from an estimated 4.7 percent this year, relying on various tax breaks and policies to spur investment and private spending.
Mutual funds in Indonesia reached around Rp 265.15 trillion as of Nov. 13 with 85 shariah-based funds, pooling around Rp11 trillion worth of funds, or roughly 4 percent of the total funds, according to data from the OJK. (*)