JAKARTA: Indonesia’s largest social security fund is poised to invest as much as 5% of its nearly US$52bil portfolio in overseas assets, according to its investment director.
BPJS Ketenagakerjaan (BPJS TK) has secured approval from the Finance Ministry for the offshore allocation under a new regulation to be introduced by the government, said director of investment development Edwin Ridwan in an interview.
Details of the final asset allocation will be discussed under separate guidelines by the ministry, he said.
The new regulation is still being drafted, and there’s no timeline yet for its completion, he added.
Capital deployment in the local market has become a challenge as the fund has grown “enormously, so we need another outlet to invest”, Ridwan said.
“We’re like a tanker in the domestic markets. But we’ll probably be a speedboat in the overseas markets, which will allow us to maneuver more easily,” the director of investment development added.
The plan marks a key shift for BPJS TK, whose US$51.56bil in assets under management as of end-September, has outgrown Indonesia’s shallow capital markets.
With annual growth of about 13%, half of which comes from mandatory contributions, the fund has long sought to diversify its holdings to other markets.
“We keep raising this matter with the Finance Ministry as the need for offshore investment is getting more urgent as the time goes by,” Ridwan said.
While Indonesia’s benchmark index has risen more than 18% to date this year, that still trails the performances of technoogy -heavy markets and even regional peer Vietnam.
The country’s total market capitalisation stood at US$911bil as of last Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg that showed the combined value of companies with a primary listing in the country.
Under Indonesian law, employers are obliged to register employees into BPJS TK’s social security programmes that cover workplace accidents, pensions and cash benefits for workers who have lost their jobs.
The social security fund manages more than 40 million accounts for employees in the South-East Asian nation as of September.
BPJS TK will likely carry out the investment through third parties as it currently doesn’t have the capacity to do direct offshore investment, Ridwan added. — Bloomberg
