Anticipating Global Uncertainty, Bahana TCW Makes Changes To Makara Prima's Strategy

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - In the last two years, global economic conditions have been hit by uncertainty. Drastic changes often occur without any previous signs, ranging from the US-China trade war, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fed's tapering policy to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Not to mention the addition of the energy crisis and the logistics crisis that has emerged in recent times which will slowly but surely destabilize the Indonesian economy, which is currently seen as quite able to withstand the effects of the pandemic.

Currently, the increase in commodity prices is believed by some to have a negative impact on Indonesia if it is not managed properly. It is feared that the soaring price of a number of basic commodities in the country will push the inflation rate up above the government's projects.

Based on BPS data released as of April 1, 2022, Indonesia's annual inflation was recorded at 2.64 percent in March 2022 and this has not yet been affected by the annual cycle of Eid and the implementation of VAT changes. If inflation is high, it will eventually be followed by changes in the interest rate of Bank Indonesia as an instrument for controlling inflation.

This very dynamic and uncertain world economic condition has made most investors start choosing safe haven assets to put their investment funds or even choose investment products that are more stable and secure, such as gold.

Seeing the development of conditions and meeting the needs of investors to invest in safer investment products, PT Bahana TCW Investment Management (Bahana TCW) made a strategy change for one of its leading mutual fund products, the Makara Prima Fixed Income Mutual Fund.

Currently, Makara Prima Fixed Income Mutual Fund is using a new strategy, namely Low Risk Underlying, which has a relatively lower risk, thereby reducing the risk of volatility by investing in 50 percent government bonds, and the rest in corporate bonds.

Danica Adhitama, Director of Bahana TCW said, if you look at recent developments in economic conditions and investment trends, his party has changed the focus of Makara Prima's portfolio strategy by using a new strategy.

"This strategy certainly aims to provide a more stable investment scheme and maintain optimal returns amidst the dynamics that occur," he explained in a written statement, Thursday, April 14.

Previously, Makara Prima was a Fixed Income Mutual Fund with a portfolio composition of 0-20 percent shares, 80-100 percent bonds, and 0-20 percent Money/Cash Market. This product invests mostly in government bonds with the main strategy of dynamic-playing on the duration of long tenor bonds and having little exposure to stock securities.

"With this change in strategy, Makara Prima has become an investment product that offers advantages in the form of investment stability. This product has low volatility, making it suitable to be purchased when interest rate trends increase. In addition, this product has a relatively low duration so that it can generate more volatility. well-known compared to the benchmark government bond index," explained Danica.

"With these advantages, this Mutual Fund is suitable for a conservative-moderate customer profile. We hope that with this change in Makara Prima's strategy, we can increase the growth of managed funds by 15 percent until the end of 2022 with the main target of retail investors," he added.

Currently, the Bahana TCW Management Fund (AUM) itself is showing a positive performance. As of December 2021, Bahana TCW is among the Top 3 of 92 Investment Managers in Indonesia, and manages IDR 50.3 trillion in Funds Under Management (AUM).

Even Bahana TCW received the title of "Best Asset & Fund Manager in Indonesia" for 7 consecutive years at the Alpha Southeast Asia Awards from 2015 to 2021.