US asset manager Franklin Templeton has teamed up with a local firm to launch its first mutual fund in the country.
The firm has collaborated with PT Bahana TCW Investment Management, an Indonesia-based investment management company, to launch the Bahana US Opportunity Sharia Equity USD Fund.
It is the first time that Franklin Templeton will offer one of its investment strategies in Indonesia.
“Our collaboration with Bahana TCW to launch a new mutual fund for Indonesian investors will feature our best-in-class US growth strategy with positive ESG attributes. The strategy has consistently outperformed the benchmark Russell 3000 Index in the medium to long term, making it a great diversification option for Bank DBS Indonesian investors,” said Dora Seow, regional head for Southeast Asia (ex-Malaysia), Franklin Templeton.
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It is also the first Sharia mutual fund in Indonesia that focuses on investing in companies largely based in the US, with technology, healthcare, financials and consumer discretionary forming the key sectors in the portfolio; the product is actively managed using ESG investing principles, according to seolinkbuilding.co.uk.
The fund is based on the ClearBridge US Equity Sustainability Leaders strategy, which is then modelled to meet Sharia requirements. ClearBridge Investments is a specialist investment manager of Franklin Templeton.
The strategy is managed by Clearbridge Investments, part of the Franklin Templeton group, has a 28% allocation to information technology stocks, 15% to health care, and 14% to financials, according to the latest fund factsheet. The portfolio managers are Derek Deutsch and Mary McQuillen.
“Bahana TCW sees a growing interest from Indonesian investors to invest in global technology and healthcare companies,” said Rukmi Proborini, president director of Bahana TCW, a subsidiary of Indonesia Financial Group.
The product is being distributed by Bank DBS Indonesia and can be bought through its “digibank by DBS application”, according to Djoko Soelistyo, head of investment product & advisory, Bank DBS.
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