The Performance of Index-based Mutual Funds Predicted to be Positive in 2024.

INVESTMENT - JAKARTA. Amid projections of a stock market rise following the General Election, index mutual funds are projected to be attractive to collect until the end of this year.

However, the performance of the stock index, which often becomes the reference for index mutual funds, appeared negative at the end of February 2024. As of Friday (23/2), LQ45 was recorded down 0.83% year to date (YTD), IDX30 also fell 0.88%, and SRI-KEHATI minus 0.85%.

Investment Director of BNI Asset Management (BNI AM) Putut Endro Andanawarih said, the performance of index mutual funds will remain positive this year, considering the market volatility from the election has decreased, the outlook for interest rates will also decrease, and there is predicted to be solid economic growth.

"In addition, it is also estimated that there is a strong fundamental for the selection criteria of constituents from our index products," Putut told Kontan.co.id, Friday (23/2).

Putut said, the performance of BNI AM's index mutual funds so far is still quite good, in the range of 5-6% year to date (YTD).

So far, BNI AM has index mutual fund products including BNI-AM Fixed Income Index Mutual Funds Short Duration Bonds Index, BNI-AM High Devidend20, BNI-AM Sri Kehati, BNI-AM Growth Index (BNI30G) and BNI-AM IDX30 Index (BNI30).

Putut mentioned, that in 2023, BNI-AM issued three index mutual funds and one fixed-income mutual fund intended for retail customers as investment solutions for customers, tailored to their risk profile and investment strategy.

Meanwhile, in terms of performance this year, Putut believes that BNI AM's performance will still grow positively due to the banking sector fundamentally recording strong net profit growth in 2024.

"We are optimistic that in 2024 the performance will still grow positively, it will increase compared to the previous year," Putu concluded.

In line with this, the Director of Panin Asset Management (AM), Rudiyanto also said that the prospect of index mutual funds remains attractive in 2024. There are several sentiments that support the increase in the performance of these index mutual funds.

First, the cycle of rising benchmark interest rates in developed countries, including The Fed, is expected to have ended and started to decline this year. The clarity of monetary policy direction in these developed countries encourages the easing of global financial market uncertainty and reduces the pressure of exchange rate depreciation, including in Indonesia.

Second, the next presidential election will still be the focus of investors, regarding how his work program and the cabinet structure he carries. Third, the increase in domestic consumption will also be a positive sentiment for equity mutual funds including index mutual funds.

"Until the end of 2024, it is predicted that index mutual funds still have the opportunity to generate a positive return," Rudiyanto told Kontan.co.id, Friday (23/2).

Rudiyanto noted, that two index mutual fund products managed by Panin Asset Management (Panin AM) recorded a higher return than their benchmark index. Panin IDX-30 Class A generated a return of 6.04% in 2023 and Panin Sri Kehati Class A of 6.90%.

This figure exceeds the return of the IDX30 index throughout 2023 which was 1.45% and the SRI-KEHATI index of 4.79%.

Meanwhile, during January 2024, Panin IDX-30 Class A generated a return of 0.17% and Panin Sri Kehati Class A of 0.90%.

Then, the return of IDX-30 during January 2024 was recorded down 0.1%. While Sri Kehati generated a return of 1.40%.

"Next, YTD until 22 Feb 2024 performance from Panin IDX-30 Class A index mutual fund is 2.96%, and Panin Sri Kehati Class A performance is 4.67%," he said.

Rudiyanto emphasized, that the growth target of index mutual funds managed by Panin AM will follow the performance of its benchmark.