Manulife Investment Management and the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA), the sovereign wealth fund of Indonesia, have partnered to focus on the overarching goal of further developing infrastructure in Indonesia and exploring investment opportunities in the real estate and natural capital sectors.

The partnership, which has been formalized through the execution of a memorandum of understanding between the two organizations, will aim to invest proprietary capital and collectively raise capital from third-party investors, both domestic and international.

The partners, who share a common objective to support sustainable and stable long-term growth, are also committed to pursue investment opportunities in various logistics assets in Indonesia and are set to explore additional joint investments through a fund structure.  

Manulife Investment Management is one of Indonesia’s largest investment managers and brings in a wealth of experience in real asset development and management from Asia and globally. This extensive experience positions Manulife Investment Management as a reliable partner for investors seeking opportunities in Indonesia’s real asset market.   

INA, as Indonesia’s first and only sovereign wealth fund, is tasked with a dual mandate: to contribute to Indonesia’s sustainable economic development, and to build wealth for future generations. In just under three years, INA, the sovereign points out, alongside its co-investor partners, has deployed more than US$3 billion, establishing strong relationships with a myriad of investors, including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, asset managers and strategic partners globally.

Global supply-chain diversification, increased foreign direct investment and the rapid growth of the manufacturing sector have boosted demand for logistics properties in Indonesia.

While Indonesia is the second-largest e-commerce market in the world, and the largest in Southeast Asia, the country is significantly undersupplied in terms of modern warehouse space. Indonesia’s e-commerce penetration rate is forecast to increase from 57% in 2022 to 78% in 2025, and e-commerce revenue is forecast to rise from US$68.5 billion in 2023 to US$104.1 billion by 2027.

“We have seen strong appetite through our conversations with institutional investors in Asia’s real asset sector; and within Southeast Asia, Indonesia is one of the most attractive markets given its surging consumer class and the exponential growth of e-commerce,” says Peter Kim, senior managing director and head of institutional business for Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) at Manulife Investment Management. “We recognize there is robust demand for high-quality logistics, data centres and other new economy infrastructure assets in the country from both multi-national and domestic customers.”