Jakarta. Indonesian sovereign wealth fund Danantara recently announced that American investor Ray Dalio would continue to share his views with the investment agency as an informal advisor.

The clarification followed media reports of Dalia backing out of the fund’s advisory board. Danantara’s top brass has previously dismissed such rumors, with the fund’s boss Rosan Roeslani saying he had just met with Dalio’s team. In its latest statement, Danantara said Wednesday that Dalio had been helping the agency over the past year with its establishment. The billionaire will also continue to help the fledgling fund make informed decisions for free.

“Mr. Ray Dalio will remain a loyal supporter of Danantara’s missions. He will continue to be an informal adviser for Danantara’s executives and President Prabowo Subianto,” Danantara said in a statement.

According to Danantara, Dalio’s advisory role is voluntary and unpaid. The fund also wrote that his position remained unchanged. 

Dalio founded the world’s largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. A few months ago, Danantara announced a high-profile team of advisors featuring Dalio, American economist Jeffrey Sachs, and former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, to name a few.

Danantara manages the assets and dividends belonging to Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises. Prabowo claimed that Danantara could top $1 trillion in assets. Prior to his advisory role announcement, Dalio also came to Prabowo’s palace and pointed out Indonesia’s “great potential for an extraordinary future” thanks to its relatively low debt level and ability to have capital that can be invested for the economy to take off. But in the 75-year-old’s eyes, there are still obstacles that Jakarta needs to get rid of.

“For example, bureaucratic obstacles, the ease of setting up a business, entrepreneurship, capital formation, corruption, and many of those. … I know the importance of a leader to take control of the situation and make those very difficult reforms … to overcome the barriers of corruption that stand in the way. … I think he [Prabowo] can be that man, and that brings me here,” Dalio said at the time.

American news outlet Bloomberg reported in late May that Dalio opted not to be on the advisory board for unspecified reasons, according to people familiar with the matter.   

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