Indonesian state pension funds increase purchases of stocks

By IVCPOST Staff Reporter

Aug 20, 2013 07:03 AM EDT

The two main state pension funds of Indonesia announced that they have boosted their purchases of local stocks. The pension funds apparently made the purchases on Tuesday. Analysts told Reuters that the pension fund purchases helped pare losses for the aggregate share prices, which had fallen to 5.6% and then 5.8% on Tuesday. The battered share prices were partly caused by Indonesia's wide deficit of its current account. The bank lending squeeze as well as the decline in the emerging markets also contributed to the fall of the Jakarta share index.

The two main state pension funds are PT Jaminan Sosial Tenaga Kerja, also known as Jamsostek, and PT Tabungan dan Asuransi Pensium or Taspen. The funds said they have about USD 800 million allocated for investments in 2013. Jamsostek Chief Executive Officer Elvyn Masassya told Reuters, "Jamsostek will raise its (portfolio) allocation in stocks. We see no fundamental issues for listed companies and stock prices are considered cheap now." The two pension funds have invested up to 65% in state-owned enterprises.

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