KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. Entering the last quarter of this year, unitlink's performance began to show positive performance. Yields on all instruments, be it stocks, fixed income, or mixed, are able to provide positive returns on a year-to-date (ytd) basis.

Based on Infovesta's data, unitlinked stocks are the leading ones with the highest yields. In terms of ytd, the yield on this instrument is 2.34%, while in terms of month-on-month (mom), the yield is 3.66%.

Furthermore, there are mixed unitlinks which provide a yield of 1.42% ytd and 2.02% mom. Finally, there is a fixed income unitlink whose yields were recorded at 1.13% ytd and 0.41% mom.

Senior Analyst and Consultant of PT Infovesta Kapital Advisori Praska Putrantyo said that the increase in the stock and mixed UL index was supported by the performance of the stock market index (JCI), which in that period also had positive sentiment.

"Positive market performance was lifted by the sentiment of foreign investor funds flowing in the stock market which was quite massive, amounting to Rp 23.5 trillion. Meanwhile, in the SBN market where foreign investor ownership is still shrinking by Rp 12.51 trillion due to anticipation ahead of the Fed's tapering policy announcement in early November 2021," said Praska.

In addition, Praska also said that there was also positive sentiment for the stock market stemming from optimism that the economic recovery in the last quarter would be faster after the daily Covid-19 cases were getting better and the PPKM policy was loosened and the mortgage and KKB incentives continued. "The publication season of stock issuers' financial statements and the momentum of the interim dividend are also supporting catalysts," he added.

In the future, Praska is optimistic that the performance of the stock and mixed unit-linked index is expected to continue to provide better performance due to the sentiment of optimism for economic recovery and ahead of the window dressing effect at the end of the year.

However, the performance of the unit-linked index for fixed income is predicted to have the potential to be hampered given the increase in bond yields due to the tapering policy by the Fed.

The same thing was experienced by BNI Life, which recorded the highest yields in unitlinked shares, considering that in October, the JCI also experienced a significant increase because it was influenced by the development of declining Covid cases and the easing of PPKM.

If you look at Infovesta's records, BNI Life's unitlink product, B-Life Link Active Funds provides a yield of 7.18% mom. Higher than the average return on stock unitlink products which is only 3.49% mom.

“However, all of our unit links are very competitive when compared to peers and benchmarks. Customers can choose according to their respective risk appetite," said BNI Life Finance Director, Eben Eser Nainggolan.

However, until last October 2021, unitlink premium income at BNI Life decreased by 16% compared to the same period last year to Rp 1.3 billion.

Meanwhile, the number of active policyholders also decreased by about 5% to more than 113 thousand policyholders, which was judged to be due to various factors, not only surrender.

"There are several reasons, such as the need for funds for consumption or business and the lack of good information about unitlinks in the market," added Eben.

Source: Kontan