The number of retail investors in Indonesia is increasing due to the expansion of local investment platforms such as Bibit, Barexa and Ajaib.
Ajaib, for example, within a year of its launch, ranked third among the most popular investment platforms in Indonesia, Ap Ani said. It all started in In 2018, Anderson Somerley, At the time, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and part-time investor advisor; He struggled to maintain the volatility of the stock and bond markets.
“I was busy with my work and did not have time to follow the changes. [in the investment market]But I wanted to invest. Apparently, the problem wasn’t just for me. Many of my peers have faced the same problem,” said Sumarli, founder and CEO of Ajaib. CASIA.
Sumarli co-founded Ajaib with his Thai classmate Yada Piyajomkwan during his MBA program at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Both had experience in financial consulting, with Piajomkwan working as a consultant for McKinsey.
Somerli took inspiration from other online brokers around the world, including US-based trading platform Robinhood and Brazil’s XP Investimentos. The aim was to create a platform where young people can start investing with small amounts of money from the comfort of their smartphones.
“I started Ajaib to create a mobile-first stock trading experience for millennial investors in Indonesia. Ajaib combines an easy-to-understand interface with in-app learning for millennials,” he added.
The duo brought their business projects to US-based startup incubator program Y Combinator and were accepted as part of the summer 2018 batch. In the year In 2019, Ajaib—which means wonderful in English—launched its operations in Indonesia.
Lowering the entry barrier for new investors
Investing has traditionally been considered an activity for the wealthy and wealthy. The belief is that investors should have a large amount of disposable income and enough time to manage the volatile market. There is an option to hire a stockbroker or financial advisor, but that costs more.
Most first-time millennial investors are stymied by such barriers and beliefs, Summarly said. “The intervention of retail investors in the country has been low because stock trading is traditionally reserved for high-net-worth individuals who can afford high commissions when working with offline brokers.”
Ajaib allows novice investors to buy investment products such as stocks, mutual funds, money market and fixed income securities without minimum purchase requirements. Users are provided with useful information about the stocks in the app such as historical data, volume of abuse and other important details to make a decision.
“We don’t use recommendation algorithms in our product. Instead, we believe in giving users as much information as possible to make an educated decision.” Summarly said.
Ajaib A Broker fee When buying shares from 0.13% to 0.15%, and for sales actions from 0.23% to 0.25%. The Company does not charge commissions for mutual fund transactions. “The bigger your transaction volume, the lower the fee,” Summarly said.
The platform has over 1 million users, 80% of whom are under the age of 30. Currently, Ajaib only works in Indonesia, however Expansion to other Southeast Asian countries is not off the table, Sumarly said, adding Thailand. Piyajomkwan’s home country, holds great potential.
Increasing financial literacy
In January, Ajaib closed a $25 million Series A round from Alpha JWC Ventures and Horizon Ventures. A significant amount of the new capital will be allocated to the company’s education campaign #MentorInvestasi, which translates to “investment mentors”.
“To support the government’s efforts to educate millennials on investing and financial planning.” Summarly said.
The campaign primarily targets young Indonesian retail investors aged between 18 and 30 years old and living in first-tier cities. According to the Financial Services Authority (OJK), the number of such investors will reach nearly 4 million in 2020, a 56 percent increase from 2019, thanks to the expansion of domestic investment apps.
however, OJK found that Most new investors lack basic knowledge of the stock market, while others obtain financial information from unreliable or biased sources.
The country has experienced people borrowing money from online lending platforms to buy stocks. Or mutual funds, risk serious financial problems. Others listened and bought stocks backed by famous religious or political figures, which did not pay off well financially.
OJK advises new retail investors to avoid these actions, because they bring more harm than good in the long run. Ajaib has been promoting OJK’s advice through social media channels and in-app educational articles. The company has worked with South Korean actor Kim Seon-ho as an ambassador. He is famous in Indonesia as an investor and mentor in the Netflix series Start Up.
Ajaib works with the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) on a joint financial literacy education initiative Millennials living in neighborhoods with low financial and investment literacy.
The program has two variants: Secola Pasar Modal (Capital Market School) gives participants the opportunity to learn basic knowledge about the stock market, such as how to open an account on IDX, fundamental and technical analysis of the stock market, and more. Useful tips. The online and offline one-day program has two levels, beginner and intermediate, and participants can join for a fee of IDR 100,000 (US$7).
The second alternative is called Galerie Investasi or Investment Gallery, which is similar to the Capital Markets School, but classes are offered directly through the partnership. Universities like Multimedia Nusantara University and Muhammadiyah Malang University.
“I believe in the power of the millennium in Indonesia. I believe that millennials will grow Indonesia’s capital markets in the near future. “Education is very important to make Indonesian youth understand the importance of investment from an early age,” Sumarli said.
“Our ultimate goal is to contribute to increasing financial inclusion in Indonesia,” he said.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “Startup Stories” series, where KrASIA writers talk to founders of tech companies in South and Southeast Asia.
