The climb of an entrepreneur and real estate investor : Jack Brown @ Invest Islands

The climb of a financial influencer and leader : Jack Brown from Invest Islands : A born entrepreneur, Jack founded his first company at 19. His self-starter attitude paired with invaluable experience as a sales and marketing professional for brands like OCS Cannon Hygiene and Marriott made him the perfect business partner for Kevin Deisser at Invest Islands. Impressed by the substantial returns Kevin was seeing with Invest Islands, he foresaw the potential of the business and what he could bring, and that is how Kevin Deisser and Jack Brown’s Invest Islands project came to life.

“Inspired by Kevin’s vision, I saw an incredible opportunity to build something special with Invest Islands”, Jack says, “Together with our motivated, educated and passionate team, we believe Indonesia is an incredibly exciting market for the right kind of responsible and respectful development.” The role of Jack Brown in Invest Islands is a truly valuable one. Jack is as diligent with the documentation as he is passionate about championing sustainable development in Indonesia, which he sees as Asia’s most profitable and worthwhile investment opportunity. Working out of the office in Hong Kong, he happily makes regular trips to Lombok to development projects and sites like the plantation field at the foot of Mount Rinjani, which supplies fresh fruits and vegetables to the company’s resort in Torok Bay and other developments.

Invest Islands about investment opportunities in Indonesia : Indonesia’s economy is on the rise, helping the country take its rightful position as a major destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). Indonesia is entering a “sweet spot” as a convergence of its young, working population with that of relatively stable inflation and sustained economic growth which in turn is fuelling overall consumer spending. Finally, the country’s resilience during the global financial crisis illustrates the merits of its immense population and economic self-reliance, demonstrating how these factors buck the trend of most other G20 economies.

Less Relative Risk. Indonesia may be less risky than many emerging markets, with an average annual return of over 25% and a beta coefficient of less than 0.8, according to a February 2011 study by MSCI and Bloomberg. Room to Grow. Indonesia’s market capitalization is significantly smaller than the BRIC economies, which suggests that it has ample room to grow, even if overall growth rates were to slow down, according to a NYSSA analysis. Inflation Risk. Indonesia has faced rising inflation along with its economic growth. If these rates were to move out of control, it could lead to higher interest rates that may negatively impact the country’s equity prices.

“Operating across the Asia Pacific region, Invest Islands is a land brokerage company based in Lombok Indonesia, with strategic offices in Hong Kong under Asian Island Group. I currently oversee all of the aspects of the Asian Island Group. I also travel to the development sites and visit the Invest Islands Foundation Charity projects. Additionally, I frequently travel to the plantation field at the foot of Mount Rinjani that supplies fresh fruits and vegetables to the Invest Islands Resort in Torok Bay.”

This intention is a good first step, however weak the implementation and enforcement may be. Nevertheless, the government support for these goals is there. To make funds available for action the government has put in place BUMDes (village financing companies); a blended finance policy and has successfully raised USD 2 billion via a “Green Sukuk” (a shariah government green bond). Much of these funds have been allocated for returns-generating SDG-relevant investments. More such Green bonds are likely to follow, like the Green Corporate bond issued by OCBC-NISP with the IFC. On another front, closing the gender gap, although by no means complete, has resulted in marginally more women being financially included (banking services) than men in Indonesia. Jokowi’s first Cabinet has a record 9 women ministers. Women do occupy positions of power, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Soekarno’s daughter, being the iconic example.

According to Jack Brown, Invest Islands Foundation is the project he is particularly proud of. The NGO has already built a school in the village of Batu Banke, pays local widows and single mothers to clean the beaches and is developing a recycling centre for the collected waste. Read additional information at Invest Islands Jack Brown.