Asia Economist and CEO, Centennial Asia Advisors

Manu Bhaskaran

Asia Economist and CEO

Centennial Asia Advisors

At Centennial Asia Advisors, we tell it like it is. We have no vested interests, no need for a China wall, and no reason to skew our outlook any other way. With over 30 years experience covering Asia’s political economy, you can be sure our conclusions and analyses are based on the unadulterated facts. Through years of fine-tuning our research methodologies, we deliver a quality of macroeconomic analysis few other houses can match.

Centennial Asia Advisors is an independent research and advisory firm that works with governments, multilateral institutions, financial firms and leading MNCs.

Economic Policy and Strategic Advisors

Macroeconomics

<ul><li>Unlike its trade-dependent neighbors such as Singapore and Malaysia, the rebound in external demand has not translated into a sizeable momentum for the Indonesian economy. This is due to the increasingly inward-looking nature of the economy.</li><li>In the near-term, lead indicators suggest that the Indonesian economy is likely to perform above expectations as government expenditures provide a timely boost to growth. However, the proposed 2018 budget is overly ambitious on its revenue-target and that could prompt a further revision of the budget deficit at a later date.</li><li>In terms of political risks, President Jokowi’s activism will shield him from the underperformance of the Indonesian economy which bodes well for political stability in Indonesia.</li></ul>

Unlike its trade-dependent neighbors such as Singapore and Malaysia, the rebound in external demand has not translated into a sizeable momentum for the Indonesian economy. This is due to the increasingly inward-looking nature of the economy.In the near-term, lead indicators suggest that the Indonesian economy is likely to perform above expectations as government expenditures provide a timely boost to growth. However, the proposed 2018 budget is overly ambitious on its revenue-target and that could prompt a further revision of the budget deficit at a later date.In terms of political risks, President Jokowi’s activism will shield him from the underperformance of the Indonesian economy which bodes well for political stability in Indonesia.

Economist, Centennial Asia Advisors

Jason Tan

Economist

Indonesia: Stability welcome but watch for rising nationalism <ul>
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Extension of mining permit for Freeport: The Indonesian government reached an agreement with Freeport-McMoran to allow it to continue operating its Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua. Under the agreement, Freeport can “immediately” apply for a 10-year extension of its operations from 2021, and potentially maintain operational control through 2041.</li>
<li>
Divestment on the cards, but no word on timing and price yet: Both parties have…</li>
</ul>

Indonesia: Stability welcome but watch for rising nationalism 

Extension of mining permit for Freeport: The Indonesian government reached an agreement with Freeport-McMoran to allow it to continue operating its Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua. Under the agreement, Freeport can “immediately” apply for a 10-year extension of its operations from 2021, and potentially maintain operational control through 2041.

Divestment on the cards, but no word on timing and price yet: Both parties have…


Quick Update - Indonesia: Implications of Freeport and the 16th Policy Package

Lacklustre figures weaken President Jokowi’s position<ul><li>
GDP figures continue to disappoint: Second quarter economic growth was unchanged from 1Q17’s relatively weak outcome, at 5.01% y/y. The major weakness was in government expenditure, which contracted 1.9% in 2Q17 after expanding 2.7% in 1Q17, largely a result of the delayed payment of civil servants’ 13th month bonus. But private consumption was unexciting, up just 4.9%, unchanged from 1Q17. Consumers appear to be reluctant to spend despite…</li></ul>

Lacklustre figures weaken President Jokowi’s position
GDP figures continue to disappoint: Second quarter economic growth was unchanged from 1Q17’s relatively weak outcome, at 5.01% y/y. The major weakness was in government expenditure, which contracted 1.9% in 2Q17 after expanding 2.7% in 1Q17, largely a result of the delayed payment of civil servants’ 13th month bonus. But private consumption was unexciting, up just 4.9%, unchanged from 1Q17. Consumers appear to be reluctant to spend despite…

Indonesia: Three Implications of Underperformance

Portfolio Manager, DCG Capital

William Toh

Portfolio Manager

Long-term, Value Driven Investor

DCG Capital

DCG Capital adopts the "Value Investing" approach in managing its clients' assets. 

The team, comprising Daniel Chan and four other Investment Analysts, offers investors a wealth of investment experience and expertise in managing Singapore and Asian equities as well as balanced mandates for investors.

Independent - We are independent and not part of any large organization. This makes us more nimble with no large investment committees, allowing us to act in a timely fashion. Our total focus is on money management and nothing else.

Value Driven - We adopt the Value investing approach and take a long term approach investing only in businesses that we understand after rigorous in-depth research.

Asia Specialist - With over 30 years of experience investing in Asia, we have gone through a number of cycles of boom and bust and understand the intricacies of investing in Asia.

Benchmark Agnostic - We invest to achieve significant absolute positive return, paying little attention to benchmarks.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Over the last few decades, we have witnessed the Asian Tigers – South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore – evolve from 3rd world frontier market to 1st world developed market.Hong Kong and Singapore grew from an industrial exporter to international financial hub. South Korea and Taiwan became leaders in electronic manufacturing, critical to the global electronics supply chain.All 4 Tigers maintained high growth rates for a few decades, seeing productivity gains based on high education standards and supportive government policies.This led to huge capital accumulation and a high savings rate.One country we want to highlight is Sri Lanka, which is often overlooked and misunderstood by investors. We want to share with you some insights from our recent site visits.

Over the last few decades, we have witnessed the Asian Tigers – South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore – evolve from 3rd world frontier market to 1st world developed market.Hong Kong and Singapore grew from an industrial exporter to international financial hub. South Korea and Taiwan became leaders in electronic manufacturing, critical to the global electronics supply chain.All 4 Tigers maintained high growth rates for a few decades, seeing productivity gains based on high education standards and supportive government policies.This led to huge capital accumulation and a high savings rate.One country we want to highlight is Sri Lanka, which is often overlooked and misunderstood by investors. We want to share with you some insights from our recent site visits.

Why Invest in Frontier Markets? Sri Lanka a Case in Point. Insights from Our Recent Investment Trip.

Partner, River Valley Asset Management

River Valley Asset Management

Partner

Singapore-based boutique asset management firm

River Valley Asset Management is a Singapore-based boutique asset management firm. Our team at RVAM strongly believes in being a trusted steward of our clients' wealth across generations.

Each of our fund managers has years of rich portfolio management experience over multiple market cycles at world-class investment houses. We bring our clients the combined strength of our investment team to manage their financial portfolios and to provide bespoke guidance on all aspects of their financial health.

We offer multi-asset class expert investment advice to accredited investors who are family offices, high net worth individuals and institutional investors to preserve and grow our clients' wealth.

The fund management team of the company includes Homiyar Vasania, Anand Ramachandran and Jamshed Desai.

Anniversaries are good milestones to take stock, reflect and ruminate over the lessons. In the investing world, major events bring learning and at the same time throw up new opportunities. The Asian Financial Crisis was one such event where many myths were shattered, fortunes lost and then made by the very few who were brave and liquid.  In this piece we look at the aftermath of the dramatic events of July 1997, how economies have evolved since then and the emerging opportunities in ASEAN which could potentially take the region back to growth levels last seen in the heady days of "Tiger Economies".

Anniversaries are good milestones to take stock, reflect and ruminate over the lessons. In the investing world, major events bring learning and at the same time throw up new opportunities. The Asian Financial Crisis was one such event where many myths were shattered, fortunes lost and then made by the very few who were brave and liquid.  In this piece we look at the aftermath of the dramatic events of July 1997, how economies have evolved since then and the emerging opportunities in ASEAN which could potentially take the region back to growth levels last seen in the heady days of "Tiger Economies".

ASEAN : 20 Years on from Asian Financial Crisis

Indonesia

iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF is an exchange-traded fund incorporated in the USA. The ETF seeks investment results that correspond to the performance of the MSCI Indonesia Investable Market Index.

iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF (EIDO US)

Indonesia: Economy Chugging Along

Unlike its trade-dependent neighbors such as Singapore and Malaysia, the rebound in external demand has not translated into a sizeable momentum...

Manu Bhaskaran

Quick Update - Indonesia: Implications of Freeport and the 16th Policy Package

Indonesia: Stability welcome but watch for rising nationalism Extension of mining permit for Freeport: The Indonesian government reached an...

Jason Tan

Indonesia: Three Implications of Underperformance

Lacklustre figures weaken President Jokowi’s position GDP figures continue to disappoint: Second quarter economic growth was unchanged from 1Q17’s...

Manu Bhaskaran

Why Invest in Frontier Markets? Sri Lanka a Case in Point. Insights from Our Recent Investment Trip.

Over the last few decades, we have witnessed the Asian Tigers – South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore – evolve from 3rd world frontier...

DCG Capital

ASEAN : 20 Years on from Asian Financial Crisis

Anniversaries are good milestones to take stock, reflect and ruminate over the lessons. In the investing world, major events bring learning and at...

River Valley Asset Management