Deputy President Director of PT Bank Central Asia (BCA), Armand Hartono, emphasizes the importance of investment and business diversification as the main strategy to maintain business continuity, a principle he inherited from his father Robert Budi Hartono, who is also known as the boss of the Djarum Group.
Speaking at the Indonesia Knowledge Forum (IKF) 2024 organized by Bank BCA at The Ritz Carlton Pacific Place, Jakarta, on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. Armand shared his experience in investing since the early 2000s. He said that even though he had tried various investment portfolios, only about 1 percent of the total had survived until now.
“When I had more income, I tried to invest. I was a bit aggressive at that time because commercial websited were booming. At that time, I was like Gen Z in the past, when I first had money, I invested in (dot) com companies,” Armand said.
However, he said that most of these investments did not survive. “Microsoft is good, some microchip companies are good, but some others are out of stock, 99 percent of the others are out of stock,” he cited.
Armand noted that the business world is very dynamic and unpredictable. He realized that even big companies, like Google, were once unimaginable to achieve the success they have today. “I used to invest in Yahoo, which used to be a leader,” he recalled.
Therefore, he considered diversification to be the main key in dealing with uncertainty and maintaining a business portfolio. With various investment options available today, ranging from unicorns, public companies, mutual funds, to blue-chip companies, Armand emphasized that the first step in investing is to ensure that you do not use money that is high-risk or “hot money”.
“So, if you ask me, immediately (I answer), diversify everything. If you have a large capital, you can invest in a new business,” he said.
With this approach, Armand reminded the importance of financial resilience and long-term thinking in investing. In the future, wise diversification will be an important foundation in facing changes and challenges in the ever-evolving business world, he concluded.
