Six mutual funds ready for operation
Six mutual funds ready for operation
JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the Capital Market Supervisory
Agency (Bapepam) I Putu Gede Ary Suta confirmed that at least six
mutual funds are now ready to start operations.
"We at the agency are now processing their registration
statements," Putu said on Monday.
Putu said that three of the mutual funds will be launched by
the state-owned PT Danareksa Fund Management, two by PT Bahana
TCW Investment Management and one by Bank BDNI.
"Several banks, including AMRO Bank and Bank Bira, have also
disclosed their intention to set up mutual funds," Putu added.
The president of Danareksa Fund Management, Iwan Pontjowinoto,
told The Jakarta Post that the three funds to be set up by
Danareksa are open-ended mutual funds.
"We prefer open-ended funds in order to take advantage of tax
regulations," Iwan said.
The new tax regulations exempt the holders of mutual fund
units from income tax.
"The three funds will be named after flowers -- Melati,
Anggrek and Mawar -- to remind us of the late first lady, Ibu
Tien Soeharto, who was an avid flower lover," Iwan said.
He said that the "Melati fund" will focus its investment in
fixed income instruments, while the "Mawar fund" will concentrate
on high risk instruments such as equity investment.
"The investment of the "Anggrek fund" will be in both high
risk and fixed income instruments.
"Therefore, investors can choose the right fund for their own
motives," Iwan said.
Meanwhile, Bahana TWC announced yesterday that it will
establish two funds, namely Bahana Dana Abadi (an open end fixed-
income fund) and Bahana Dana Prima (an open end equity fund).
Bahana said in a statement that it will issue 300 million fund
units for Bahana Dana Abadi and 200 million units for Bahana Dana
Prima, to be priced at a nominal value of Rp 1,000 (42 US cents)
for each unit.
The statement said that Bahana Dana Prima will pay dividends
four times per annum and Bahana Dana Abadi once a year.
"A contract with sponsors will be signed in the first week
next month, while the offering period is scheduled for mid
August," the statement said.
The statement also said that total funds managed by Bahana
TWC, which started its investment management operations in June
last year, currently exceed Rp 230 billion. (alo)