Economy

There is significant foreign participation in the Indonesian insurance sector, with two-thirds of life assets held by companies with some investment from overseas, according to figures from the Financial Services Authority (OJK). However, the openness of the insurance market is being reconsidered on an ongoing basis, and it remains unclear whether foreign shareholdings will...

As with the banking sector, insurance in Indonesia is on the cusp of wide-reaching change. Given the country’s large population of nearly 250m – expanding by more than 1% per annum – its growing middle class and a GDP rising at about 6% a year, the insurance sector stands to benefit from these fundamentals in the years ahead. Indeed, at just $77, insurance density in Indonesia...

Although Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, it trails many other markets in terms of uptake, awareness and product innovation in Islamic capital markets. As of the end of May 2015, only 3.3% of corporate bonds and 11.8% of government bonds by value were sharia-compliant. By contrast, in Malaysia half of all debt issued meets Islamic standards.

THE COMPANY: Sido Muncul (SIDO) is one of Indonesia’s top manufacturers of herbal and consumer health products. Its popular products include the revolutionary Tolak Angin and Kuku Bima Ener-G, both market leaders in their respective segments, with market shares of 60% and 75.1% as of 2012, according to Capricorn Indonesia Consult....