Pandu Sjahrir, chief investment officer of Indonesia’s newly established Danantara sovereign wealth fund, discusses strategies for avoiding past mistakes made by other funds while aiming to grow its $1 trillion holdings. Founded in 2025, Danantara seeks to restructure state-owned enterprises and engage in international investments that benefit the Indonesian economy through job creation and export growth. Sjahrir emphasizes learning from established sovereign wealth funds and partnering with global asset managers to bring economic benefits back to Indonesia.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-14,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
“These are national resources that are now being monetized for the nation,” Pandu Sjahrir tells me when we meet.
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we → monetize → me
But it’s a sentiment popular these days with, among others, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has talked often of “monetizing the asset side” of America’s balance sheet.
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who → ’ → sheet
Danantara was founded in 2025 and values its holdings at about $1 trillion, making it about as big as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
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it → found → Fund
It’s a young learner trying to compress what Sjahrir calls the “walk, run, sprint” trajectory of more established government investment vehicles while avoiding their mistakes; Saudi Arabia lost billions trying to make a splash in Silicon Valley, while Malaysia’s 1MDB collapsed in a corruption scandal.
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1MDB → ’ → scandal
Graft and political influence are particular concerns among international investors whose goodwill Indonesia, which runs both a budget deficit and a trade deficit, needs.
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which → run → deficit
Sjahrir, who comes from Jakarta by way of Andover and the University of Chicago, has a two-sided mandate: to restructure more than 1,000 state-owned enterprises — half of them unprofitable — into dividend payers that can eventually go public; and to invest internationally in ways that bring economic benefits, like jobs and export-bearing industries, not just financial returns, back to Indonesia.
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that → come → Indonesia
A recent deal will see Danantara take a slice of meatpacking giant JBS’ Australian business in exchange for JBS helping to build Indonesia’s meat industry.
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JBS → see → industry
Danantara has hired Neuberger Berman to help select deals and managers, is preparing to make its first allocations to hedge funds later this year, and is sending some of its own executives to secondments with Wall Street firms, Sjahrir said.
“I’m trying to learn from all the other sovereigns,” Sjahrir said.
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Sjahrir → hire → sovereigns
When asked whether he’s worried about being seen by Wall Street as easy money, he says: “I cannot change what they think.
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they → ask → what
My focus is: Can we deploy capital well, make good returns, and are they bringing something to the table for us?
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they → deploy → us
Perception shifts.”
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Perception → shift → ?
Q&A
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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interview → edit → clarity
The power dynamic between sovereign wealth funds and Western partners is changing fast.
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dynamic → change → funds
How do you think about what you’re getting back for the money you’re handing to Wall Street?
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you → think → Street
I’m trying to learn from all the other sovereigns.
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I → try → sovereigns
We’re the youngest.
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We → ’re → ?
We just got so big so fast, and I realized you have to learn to walk, then run, then sprint.
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you → get → ?
What did you learn from the ‘walk’ phase?
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you → learn → phase
There’s a reason [global asset managers and companies] exist.
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managers → ’ → ?
They know what they’re doing.
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they → know → what
So partner with them, but say, ‘if we become a customer or partner of yours, can you also bring some of that skill set back to our country?’
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you → partner → country
It’s a good trade.
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It → ’ → ?
One thing Western money managers want is access to financial markets that have been off-limits in the past.
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that → want → past
This is one of the models all of us want to replicate.
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all → want → us
So we’ve offered: Invest with us, name the valuation, come into our stock market — and then tell us how to change it to compete, to make it bigger.
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it → offer → it
We’re willing to offer something very good, because a stock market is a monopolistic business.
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market → ’re → something
The only thing we ask in return is: Can you help us improve it?
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us → ask → it
We’ve started deploying capital with selected fund managers.
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We → start → managers
But in each one, we want partnership.
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we → want → partnership
We’re also, in the second half of this year, sending some of our guys to train with these managers.
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We → send → managers
What’s in it for them to train your people?
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them → ’ → people
In five years, these guys will be the best we have and most likely in director or managing director roles.
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we → have → roles
It’s up to the [private-equity firms] whether they want that future investment-committee member, the one who will be saying yes or no, to be in their corner.
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who → ’ → corner
It’s the cheapest investment a GP can make.
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GP → ’ → ?
How do you keep them from seeing you as dumb money in the meantime?
I cannot change what they think.
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they → keep → what
My focus is: Can we deploy capital well, make good returns, and are they bringing something to the table for us?
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they → deploy → us
Perception shifts.
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Perception → shift → ?
They spent the 2010s throwing money around because Wall Street was making them feel special and they got little back strategically.
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they → spend → little
That’s why we do direct deals only where we have the expertise.
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we → ’ → expertise
If we do a nickel deal for downstream processing, we’re quite good at that.
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we → do → that
…and 11 more, not listed.
