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Maybank GMT Asset Management to become a key player in Indonesia

07 November 2013

5 min read

Offering Asian-focused investment capabilities to Indonesian investors

 

JAKARTA, 7 November 2013 – Maybank's newly acquired Indonesian asset management unit, which was today launched and introduced as PT Maybank GMT Asset Management (“Maybank GMT” or “the Company”), aims to be amongst the top 10 players in terms of Asset Under Management (“AUM”) in Indonesian by 2017. Maybank GMT is now a member of Maybank, South East Asia’s fourth largest bank by assets and ranked one of the top 20 strongest banks in the world by Bloomberg Markets.

 

In his opening remarks, Nor’ Azamin Salleh who heads Maybank’s regional asset management businesses commented, “Maybank’s foray into the asset management industry in Indonesia marked another milestone in strengthening Maybank Asset Mananagement’s (“Maybank AM”) regional expansion strategy in becoming a key player in Asean by 2017. From a more holistic perspective, our venture into the Asset Management space in Indonesia via Maybank GMT is an expansion of the Group’s financial offerings in the country from its existing retail banking arm via Bank International Indonesia (BII) and Investment Banking channel via Maybank Kim Eng Indonesia.”

 

Azamin added, “Being part of Maybank AM, Maybank GMT can now leverage on the team’s on-the-ground expertise in key Asean markets namely Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand coupled with our focused Asian investment expertise. The Company is now in the position to offer a broader offerings spectrum to existing and potential investors in Indonesia. We are able to offer investment related solutions ranging from conventional to Syariah investment solutions and also in the private equity area.”

 

Commenting on the potential of the Indonesian market, Azamin said, “Indonesia is an attractive market and to illustrate the point, it is the biggest economy in Southeast Asia, has the fourth largest population in the world, charted an economic growth of 6.2 % in 2012 and has a relatively low debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio of 26.0%. Being one of the most resilient economies in the region, and consistently growing at above 6.0% over the last three years, Indonesia remained buoyant on domestic demand and a magnet for foreign direct investments. In tandem with the country’s growth, the company would aggressively grow its presence in Indonesia and tap into this fast growing market which is currently worth USD 20 billion.

 

CEO of Maybank GMT Asset Management, Marto Sutiano said, “We are excited about the potential growth prospects of Maybank GMT especially after having experienced the challenges of a small boutique sized firm ever since the inception of the Company in 2002. This partnership has a lot to offer and can potentially uplift the barriers which have hindered business growth previously. With the combined expertise from both the local and regional teams, we believe we can introduce a better variety of products to cater to the growing needs of Indonesian investors. With the influx of regional fund houses into the Indonesian asset management industry over the past few years, we can now compete on par with our competitors where investment capabilities are concern.”

 

“Our focus is on both conventional and Syariah funds investing into Asian markets although we believe that Syariah products will garner stronger response from the general public given more than 80% of Indonesia’s population are Muslims. From a distribution angle and in addition to our current mode of operations through kiosks, we are also in the midst of exploring bigger scaled and new channels by leveraging into our sister company – BII’s vast network distribution of close to 400 branches throughout Indonesia which also allows us to penetrate not only in Jakarta but also the outskirts of Jakarta. Many of these untapped areas have scarcity of investment options which presents tremendous potential for cultivating an investment mindset rather than the conventional ways of keeping money. All in all, Maybank GMT remains committed to offering more sophisticated and a wider range of products and easier access catering to all walks of investors in Indonesia” Marto concludes.

 

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