Sucor Rebrands, Bets on Infrastructure, Bank Equity
Surabaya. Jakarta-based fund manager Sucorinvest Asset Management changed its name on Wednesday (15/03) to try to revitalize the company and increase its assets under management, or AUM, by 23 percent this year.
The newly branded Sucor Asset Management will seek to manage Rp 5.3 trillion ($397 million) in assets this year, up from Rp 4.3 trillion last year, with a new focus on managing infrastructure and construction company assets, Jemmy Paul, Sucor's investment director, told reporters on Tuesday (14/03).
According to Jemmy, higher government infrastructure spending this year will boost infrastructure companies' stocks. The government has promised this year to inject new capital to state-owned enterprises and accelerate the country's infrastructure projects.
National infrastructure spending has risen to an allotted Rp 387 trillion in the 2017 revised state budget from Rp 317 trillion last year.
Sucor's top picks for the infrastructure and construction sector include state-owned Pembangunan Perumahan, Adhi Karya, and Jasa Marga.
Cable producer KMI Wire & Cable will also benefit from an ambitious government project to increase the country's power supply by 35,000 megawatt by 2019, Jemmy said.
"Higher commodity prices will boost confidence in the sector, which will lead commodity-driven companies to finance their business with bank loans," Jemmy added.
Jemmy said Sucor currently favors Bank Tabungan Negara, Bank CIMB Niaga and Bank Negara Indonesia to benefit from that trend.
However, Sucor expects a poor performance in the consumer goods sector this year as higher inflation rates prevent consumers from spending.
Indonesia's annual inflation rate rose to 3.83 percent in February from 3.49 percent in January.
Retail sales rose to 6.3 percent in January compared to the same month a year earlier, a slower rate increase compared to December's 10.3 percent, according to data released by Bank Indonesia, the country's central bank.
Sucor currently offers seven equities spread across different types of risks and returns. Institutional investors like banks, insurance companies, pensions and hedge funds comprised about 80 percent of the company's total clients.
The company's most popular fund is the Sucorinvest Equity Fund, which has already grown 11 percent this year, higher than the 2.3 percent gain on the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index.
"We hope our goals for this year will be achieved through our equity products," Jemmy said.
"We are currently in the top 20 of companies in Indonesia in terms of AUM. Our target is to be in the top ten list by 2020," he added.
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