
Indonesians Are Feeling Market Gloom Ahead of Major Eid Holiday
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Indonesia's market turmoil is adding to the economic worries sapping sentiment among consumers, businesses and retail investors ahead of one of the Southeast Asian country's biggest holidays.
Benedicta Alvinta, a freelance marketing strategist in the central Java town of Yogyakarta, says the 'nerve-racking' slide in Indonesian stocks hurt her investment portfolio largely focused on shares, followed by government retail bonds, mutual funds and gold.

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Prospectively, AM Best expects improved stability for the company with a growing premium volume and an increase in its generally more stable motor line of business. KB Indonesia's conservative investment portfolio, which is mainly composed of time deposits and Indonesian government bonds, generates stable investment profits that provide a partial buffer for the underwriting volatility. As a joint venture between KBI (70%) and PT AB Sinar Mas Multifinance (30%), KB Indonesia is a small-sized non-life insurer domiciled in Indonesia with a majority of its current business sourced from offering coverage to Korean companies in Indonesia. The company's source of business has demonstrated a diversifying trend following a rising cross-selling business with KB Group affiliates, which entered Indonesia as part of the group's global expansion strategy and its efforts in penetrating the local market. In terms of the company's product portfolio, there is a level of concentration on property and engineering lines; however, AM Best expects KB Indonesia to have a more diversified portfolio going forward with an increasing volume of motor and other products sourced through its affiliated companies and other local channels. KB Indonesia receives rating enhancement from implicit and explicit support from its parent, KBI. The company plays an important role in KB Group's overall expansion strategy in Indonesia's insurance market and benefits from the group's network and distribution channels there. AM Best expects that the parent will provide capital support to KB Indonesia if needed, as evidenced by KBI's public announcement to support the company fully in fulfilling the strengthened domestic capital requirements that will be applied over the coming years. AM Best expects that KB Indonesia's planned change in organisational structure with a new intermediate holding company, in compliance with the Indonesian Financial Services Authority's (OJK) new regulation for financial conglomerates, will lead to a more efficient decision-making process and stronger synergy among affiliates in Indonesia, while the support from the group and KBI to KB Indonesia remains unchanged. Negative rating actions could arise if KB Indonesia's risk-adjusted capitalisation significantly deteriorates such as from heightened credit risk following major loss events or from excessive business expansion that materially outpaces the capital growth. Negative rating actions also could occur for KB Indonesia if support from the group and KBI is reduced to an extent that no longer supports the current level of rating enhancement. Positive rating actions could arise if KB Indonesia's operating performance improves and reaches a level that positively distinguishes the company from its industry peers in a sustainable manner. Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best's Credit Ratings, Best's Performance Assessments, Best's Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best's Ratings & Assessments.