Manulife buys govt bonds

JAKARTA (JP): Manulife Indonesia announced on Wednesday that it had purchased Rp 25 billion (US$2.94 million) worth of recapitalization bonds issued by Bank Indonesia.

"The purchase demonstrates our commitment to provide our clients with high-yielding yet low-risk investments," said company president Philip Hampden-Smith.

He said the transaction, which was brokered by the Singapore branch of Deutsche Bank AG, was the first such transaction to involve a foreign institution and it highlighted their commitment to develop an active secondary bid market for approximately Rp 282 trillion in government bonds.

Manulife offers financial protection and wealth management services, such as insurance, pension and mutual fund portfolios. (07)