Bukalapak and Asmore Strategic Cooperation Will Present Investment Products in the "Underserved" Segment

Open Joint Investment (BIB), a business unit of Bukalapak, will step on the gas next year after securing initial external funding of IDR 50 billion from investment management company Asmore Asset Management Indonesia for a 20% stake. The two companies will partner to combine their strongest aspects, namely capital market knowledge and technology.

In an official statement distributed on Tuesday (8/12), President Director of Ashmore Ronaldus Gandahusada said, Ashmore wants to improve its digital capabilities through investment in BIB. This is because the digitalization era for the asset management industry is unavoidable, as well as an opportunity to increase customer accessibility directly through digital channels.

"We see that there is considerable potential in Bukareksa, Bukalapak's mutual fund outlet, in targeting a population that has not traditionally received financial services and is looking for easy investment using technology," he said.

Bukalapak President and BIB President Director Teddy Oetomo added that Ashmore's presence can accelerate the company's mission to increase accessibility for everyone to investment products and services, especially underserved segments.

“This strategic partnership includes a distribution agreement that gives BukaReksa customers access to Ashmore's various mutual fund products. Asmore will gain access to Bukalapak's users who are still growing rapidly, with more than 100 million users throughout Indonesia."

Contacted separately by DailySocial, Teddy said BIB will continue to improve services from technology infrastructure and operational processes that are more organized, so that BIB will become a better APERD. reliable to transact mutual funds with the development of products, services, and the availability of various other investment products.

DailySocial also asked how the development of BIB and investment trends so far. Teddy only said that BIB only received a license as APERD in October 2020, so it will only be effective in November 2020. Currently business priorities are centered on operational standardization, feasibility testing of investment managers who will partner with BIB, and product development.

"With our long experience in this field, we believe we are on the right track and are optimistic that we can achieve the focus and targets we have set."

Interest in mutual fund platforms online

Ashmore's interest in BIB is actually due to the large growth space for online investment, which in terms of population ratio is still far behind. According to data Indonesian Central Securities Depository (KSEI) the number of SID investors reached 3,28 million at the end of September 2020. While 2,58 million of them came from mutual fund investors.

This figure grew by 45,76% compared to 2019. However, this growth was less than between 2018 and 2019 which reached 78,25%, slightly corrected due to the pandemic. On the other hand, there is a positive side that has been shown. In 2017, the number of investors has not crossed the 1 million mark, but in 2019 it managed to reach 1,5 million.

Previously, several corporate actions between financial companies and fintech happens often. For example, Magic Group which acquired Primasia Unggul Sekuritas (now rebranding Magic Securities), FUNDtastic acquires Invisee for $6,5 million to obtain additional licenses as APERD and sovereign debt distribution partner, stockbit who acquired Seeds, and OVO invest in Bareksa.

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