Danantara Indonesia will invest $20 billion in a wide range of projects from metal processing to artificial intelligence, President Prabowo Subianto said.

With official details scant so far, speculation about the shape of a planned new US sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is broad. But if the idea does become a reality, other asset owners are likely to be affected by such a large newcomer in one way or another.

A sovereign wealth fund often serves as a vehicle to invest a government’s budget surplus. The U.S. doesn’t have that luxury.

Indonesia on Monday launched a new sovereign wealth fund that will aim to manage state assets worth more than $900 billion as President Prabowo Subianto looks to turbo-charge growth in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

The Treasury and Commerce Departments are drafting a plan detailing how a federal sovereign wealth fund might be structured, funded, and managed.

Effectively, it's a government-run hedge fund that invests in assets like stocks, bonds, real estate, and infrastructure. It's a fairly straightforward process: the government provides funds, and the SWF invest it into risky assets to try to earn profits. This is the same as any investment company, only that its sole investor is the government.

He wants to tap into the fund's assets -- planned to be more than $900 billion -- to boost Indonesia to developed economy status, despite expert concern about its governance.

JAKARTA – Indonesia launched its new sovereign wealth fund Danantara on Feb 24, the latest initiative by President Prabowo Subianto to deliver on his ambitious economic growth target of 8 per cent within his first term.

Danantara Indonesia will invest $20 billion in a wide range of projects from metal processing to artificial intelligence.