Why Indonesians are turning to Jokowi’s son and other influencers for stock market insight
- Never mind news sites, retail investors in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy are increasingly getting guidance on shares from social media
- Followers of influencers such as Kaesang Pangarep, the president’s youngest son, have sent local stocks soaring – though not yet to the extent of GameStop in the US
“To me, social media is very important, because some investors share tips on which stocks are currently [on the rise]; if I have the money I will heed their advice and buy them,” said Rifky, a 22-year-old university student who lives in Yogyakarta.
“Lately I’m more into learning about stocks from Kaesang. I learned from his tweets about some unfamiliar stocks, so I’m seeking information from him, though I haven’t bought any stocks that he has tweeted so far.”
Rifky is one of the many tech-savvy Indonesian millennials trying their hand at trading stocks, bolstered by the proliferation of advice from social media influencers – and prime investment opportunities from the pandemic-related downturn in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
The trend of social-media-driven stock trading sprang up last year in Indonesia, where more than half of the country’s population of 270 million are unbanked or underbanked. As of January 17, there were over 4 million retail investors carrying out 619,000 transactions daily, an increase of more than 50 per cent from 2019, according to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).
