Indonesian Wealth Management: Evolving the Platform and Proposition
Ivan Kusuma of DANA
May 4, 2023
How have wealth management businesses in Indonesia been evolving their platform, processes, products and advice? This was the major question put to a panel of experts at the Hubbis Indonesian Wealth Management Forum in Jakarta on March 29. One of the expert speakers was Ivan Kusuma, Head of Investment & Insurance at DANA, who offered his insights into the creation and delivery of a more client-centric wealth platform and model. Dana is one of the new breed of digital disruptors across Indonesia, with 140 million registered users and Kusuma joined in 2022 when the firm had raised fresh funding last year and announced plans to expand into wealth management and insurance in the coming several years. This is a brief summary of some of his observations.
Chair
Pieter Zylstra
General Manager - APAC
Additiv
Panel Members
Ivan Kusuma
Head of Investment & Insurance
DANA
Samdarshi Sumit
President Director & CEO
PFI Mega Life Insurance
Sigit Prihatmoko
Head of Strategic Planning Group, Strategic Planning Division
Bank Negara
Yash Shah
Partner
Synpulse
Dana is a leading Indonesia’s digital wallet provider that provides payment and financial services, and in 2022 received investment from local conglomerate Sinar Mas Group and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Lazada Group to expand in Indonesia.
DANA apps officially launched in 2018, is using the funds to invest in new tech and roll out more financial services in one of the world’s fastest-growing fintech markets, Chief Executive Officer Vince Iswara reported last August time.
Dana is backed by Ant Group which has been expanding across Southeast Asia. The plan is to offer lending, wealth management and insurance as it expands its portfolio across Dana’s 140 million plus registered users in Indonesia.
Ivan Kusuma is the Head of Investment & Insurance for DANA Indonesia and joined the firm in 2022. He has more than 10+ years of experience in the Wealth Management industry. Currently, he leads all of the projects related to investments and insurance business strategy to serve 140 million plus users across the country.
Previously, he worked at Commonwealth Bank Indonesia in 2019-2022 as Investment Business Head, and before that with Citi as Investment Product Head. He originally earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Indonesia, majoring in Economics-Accounting. He is also a CFA charter holder since 2015.
Kusuma first addressed the digital transformation journey DANA had undergone to reach the point where they now serve a huge 140 million customer online or on app.
He explained they have some 140 million plus registered users and the plan is now to enter financial services, and in particular digital wealth management in the coming several years.
“We are one of these exciting new digital players that are entering the mass affluent markets with the aim of delivering investment products including mutual funds and insurance and other wealth products to our customers,” he reported.
He said there are some 10 million customers nationwide with mutual fund accounts right now, and the growth has been dynamic in recent years, growing around 10 times since 2018. “We have seen the arrival of many FinTechs that are inserting themselves where in the past only the traditional banks competed and we have seen the expansion of the customer base and younger and younger customers representing a new generation of investors,” Kusuma explained.
He later addressed the nuances and idiosyncrasies of the Indonesian market. “We need trust first and foremost, in order to achieve that financial segment penetration,” he told guests. “We come from the FinTech perspective, so we do not have a human or individual relationship ‘face’ to the customers. People will deal directly with the apps, but they need to trust those apps, and completely. Otherwise, they will either resist or they will not commit much of their funds. We need to educate the customers, and we need to be part of the ecosystem.”
“There is plenty of room for new entrants like us to compete as long as we have the trust of the customer base.”
Head of Investment & Insurance at DANA