Jakarta. Wealthtech app Pluang recently urged retail investors to brace for the economic uncertainties in 2023 — a year predictably to be marred with a looming recession.

Today’s global economy is facing a looming recession and hyperinflation amid geopolitical tension. 

Even so, the macroeconomic condition outlook —at least for the first quarter of 2023— still looks quite bright. 

The US and China’s capital markets are on a positive trend. Since China’s reopening, global investors have shown greater interest in Chinese market stocks. Quoting research by Financial Times and Bloomberg, Pluang revealed that the purchase of Chinese equities has doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

At the same time, the US is now bracing for a white-collar recession. Industries such as the tech sector that had flourished in the past years now are laying off their workers. Take Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft for example. When the Covid-19 pandemic dawned in 2020, the economic crisis took the greatest toll on sectors with low-wage workers, namely tourism, retail, and leisure, according to Kartika Dewi, the Head of Corporate Communications Pluang.

"White-collar workers were increasingly in demand in the labor market to meet companies' need for many new projects as a way for its business to adapt. But the economy is now returning to pre-pandemic level and industries that have previously seized opportunities now have to redefine productivity to make the most-effective business decisions,” Kartika was quoted as saying in a recent press release.

According to Pluang, the public does not see the tech layoff as a negative signal to the company’s growth, but in fact, it is a strategy to reorganize its profitability. However, investors still need to keep their guard up for a recession throughout the year. The market action has not entirely shown a bullish trend, and might just be a bearish trend recovery. The inverted yield curve in the US bond market shows investors are still worried about the long-term economic prospects.

Meanwhile, investors in Indonesia are on the rise. The Indonesian Central Securities Depository (KSEI) data shows that the number of investors in Indonesia's capital market has topped more than 10 million as of Nov. 2022. This marks a 33 percent increase from the previous year's figures, which amounted to 7.4 million investors. Indonesians, however, are highly prone to bogus investments. OECD reported that Indonesia has a high percentage of adults falling into fraudulent schemes, namely 22.5 percent. This is far above the global average of 4.4 percent. The low fraud awareness, coupled with the large investor population, urges fintech players to improve the country’s financial literacy.

"A high level of financial literacy can improve the quality of one's financial activities, be it spending, saving, or investing. So investors are much more ready to face the market uncertainties this year. This calls for a collaboration between the government and the fintech business players," Kartika said.

In a bid to improve investors' financial literacy, Pluang takes part in the upcoming 2023 Economic Outlook forum on Feb. 14.  The discussion takes on the theme "The Capital Market's Role in Strengthening the National Economy".

Twenty Pluang users will also get an exclusive chance to tune in to the forum attended by different stakeholders in the financial sector, among others, the Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto. 

Financial Services Authority (OJK) deputy commissioner Djustini Septiana, Indonesian Fintech Association (AFTECH) chair Pandu Sjahrir, and Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) president director Iman Rachman will join the discussion. Adi Budiarso, the head of the financial sector policy at the Finance Ministry, will also share his insight with the audience.

“We hope that by showing how important retail investors’ contribution to the economic recovery is, the strategic discussion between the industry players and regulators at the 2023 Economic Outlook forum can help improve people’s financial literacy and give investors and soon-to-be-investor market insights," Kartika said.