PMS Tracker: Top 15 funds gain up to 16.5% in May; Elever, Axis strategies lag
Live Events
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel
At least 15 PMS funds across smallcap, midcap, and multi-cap strategies delivered solid gains in May 2025, with Money Grow Asset's Small Midcap strategy emerging as the top performer with a 16.5% monthly return, according to data from PMS Bazaar.NAFA Asset Managers' Clean Tech Portfolio followed closely with a 16% return. Negen Capital's Special Situations and Technology Fund gained 15.35%, while Nine Rivers Capital's Aurum Small Cap Opportunities returned 14.4%. Samvitti Capital's PMS Aggressive Growth strategy also featured prominently with a 14.39% return in May.Ambit Investment Advisors' Emerging Giants strategy posted a 14.29% gain, and Waya Financial Technologies' Bin73 Sunrise Alpha, a new entrant in the small and midcap segment, rose 14.14%. Anand Rathi's Decennium Opportunity strategy returned 13.91%, while Bonanza Portfolio's Multicap fund and Accelt's Long Term Equity Fund gained 13.87% and 13.80%, respectively.Other funds in the top 15 include portfolios managed by Samvitti Capital, ithought Financial, Master Portfolio Services, and Tulsian PMS, each delivering monthly gains of over 13%.While many strategies posted double-digit gains, a few funds underperformed during the month. Elever Investment Adviser's Factorshields PMS was the biggest laggard, slipping 0.91%, followed by its Factoralpha PMS, which declined 0.58%.Aequitas Investment Consultancy's India Opportunities Product lost 0.33%, while Axis Securities' AlphaSense AI strategy declined 0.30%. Invasset's Growth Pro Max fell 0.26%, and Kotak Mahindra AMC's Pharma and Healthcare strategy was down 0.23%.Other funds with relatively muted performance include Profusion Investment's Income Enhancer (up 0.11%), PRPEdge Wealth's Alphaa Better Risk Reward (up 0.13%), and Agreya Capital's Multi-Asset Enhancer (up 0.21%).In May, the performance gap among PMS strategies was wide, with high-beta smallcap and thematic strategies staging a sharp rebound, while select sectoral, quant-based, and hybrid portfolios struggled to keep pace.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
Digital onboarding, centralised data key to next leg of PMS growth: Biharilal Deora
Biharilal Deora emphasizes that India's Portfolio Management Services (PMS) industry is poised for significant expansion, contingent on accelerating digital onboarding processes and enhancing access to standardized data. APMI's efforts in data collection and the launch of 'APMI Insights' are pivotal for transparency. Deora anticipates substantial growth, driven by India's economic trajectory and increasing investor sophistication. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Portfolio Management Services ( PMS ) industry in India is on the cusp of a major growth phase, but unlocking its full potential will require faster adoption of digital onboarding and better access to standardised industry data , according to Biharilal Deora, Director at Abakkus Asset Manager LLP and Board Member of the Association of Portfolio Managers in India ( APMI ).Speaking to ETMarkets on the sidelines of the APMI conference in Mumbai, Deora noted that the association has made rapid progress in just three years, now representing around 320 members covering nearly 96% of the PMS industry 's assets under management ( AUM ) — a level that took other industry bodies decades to key priority for the association is simplifying account opening through digital onboarding, an area where PMS players still lag behind mutual funds and broking firms, which saw accelerated adoption post-COVID. 'We are working with SEBI to ease digital onboarding. This could solve many pain points for PMS account openings across the industry,' Deora major focus is data transparency. While mutual funds and other industries routinely publish key metrics like SIP numbers and AUM trends, the PMS industry lacked centralised, verified data until recently. To address this, APMI began collecting data on behalf of SEBI two years ago, covering performance, assets, and other key indicators. This effort culminated in the launch of 'APMI Insights', unveiled by the NSE MD, which offers a single-window view of the platform provides comprehensive information on AUM movements, returns over multiple timeframes, portfolio turnover ratios, and cash positions — eliminating the need for investors to check individual PMS websites. 'Now, clients can access audited, standardised net TWRR-based performance data across managers at one place,' Deora said, adding that PMS is the only industry with such standardised performance PMS industry currently manages about ₹5.5 lakh crore in total discretionary and non-discretionary assets, with discretionary AUM at roughly ₹2 lakh crore spread across just two lakh clients, implying an average ticket size of around ₹1 crore. While AUM has been growing at 23–25% annually over the past five years, client growth has been slower at 4–5% — a gap Deora believes will narrow as more wealthy individuals seek customised, alpha-driven the global trend where separately managed accounts (SMAs) often outpace mutual funds in size, Deora sees a similar shift in India. 'We are waiting for our 'COVID moment' — a tipping point when adoption accelerates exponentially, just like it did for mutual funds. The structure of PMS, with boutique managers competing purely on skill, offers unique value for clients,' he ahead, Deora expects the PMS industry to double every 5–7 years in line with India's projected GDP growth and rising per capita income, driven by liquidity events, business listings, and the ongoing financialisation of savings. 'Mutual funds are good, but PMS is also important. As investor literacy grows, the conversation will shift from explaining what equity is to explaining why our strategies are different. That's when the real growth will come,' he added.: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Digital onboarding, centralised data key to next leg of PMS growth: Biharilal Deora
The Portfolio Management Services ( PMS ) industry in India is on the cusp of a major growth phase, but unlocking its full potential will require faster adoption of digital onboarding and better access to standardised industry data , according to Biharilal Deora, Director at Abakkus Asset Manager LLP and Board Member of the Association of Portfolio Managers in India ( APMI ). Speaking to ETMarkets on the sidelines of the APMI conference in Mumbai, Deora noted that the association has made rapid progress in just three years, now representing around 320 members covering nearly 96% of the PMS industry 's assets under management ( AUM ) — a level that took other industry bodies decades to reach. One key priority for the association is simplifying account opening through digital onboarding, an area where PMS players still lag behind mutual funds and broking firms, which saw accelerated adoption post-COVID. 'We are working with SEBI to ease digital onboarding. This could solve many pain points for PMS account openings across the industry,' Deora said. Another major focus is data transparency. While mutual funds and other industries routinely publish key metrics like SIP numbers and AUM trends, the PMS industry lacked centralised, verified data until recently. To address this, APMI began collecting data on behalf of SEBI two years ago, covering performance, assets, and other key indicators. This effort culminated in the launch of 'APMI Insights', unveiled by the NSE MD, which offers a single-window view of the industry. The platform provides comprehensive information on AUM movements, returns over multiple timeframes, portfolio turnover ratios, and cash positions — eliminating the need for investors to check individual PMS websites. 'Now, clients can access audited, standardised net TWRR-based performance data across managers at one place,' Deora said, adding that PMS is the only industry with such standardised performance reporting. The PMS industry currently manages about ₹5.5 lakh crore in total discretionary and non-discretionary assets, with discretionary AUM at roughly ₹2 lakh crore spread across just two lakh clients, implying an average ticket size of around ₹1 crore. While AUM has been growing at 23–25% annually over the past five years, client growth has been slower at 4–5% — a gap Deora believes will narrow as more wealthy individuals seek customised, alpha-driven strategies. Highlighting the global trend where separately managed accounts (SMAs) often outpace mutual funds in size, Deora sees a similar shift in India. 'We are waiting for our 'COVID moment' — a tipping point when adoption accelerates exponentially, just like it did for mutual funds. The structure of PMS, with boutique managers competing purely on skill, offers unique value for clients,' he said. Looking ahead, Deora expects the PMS industry to double every 5–7 years in line with India's projected GDP growth and rising per capita income, driven by liquidity events, business listings, and the ongoing financialisation of savings. 'Mutual funds are good, but PMS is also important. As investor literacy grows, the conversation will shift from explaining what equity is to explaining why our strategies are different. That's when the real growth will come,' he added. ( Disclaimer : Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
Mint
9 hours ago
- Mint
India MF count jumps after long lull on policy change, growth scope
A mix of tax policy shifts, product innovation and untapped potential is redrawing India's asset management map, spurring a rush in the mutual fund industry. Interestingly, not all are fresh entrants, but existing players in the ecosystem—portfolio managers, alternate investment funds (AIFs), stock brokers, and even investment bankers—who are now stepping in. The number of mutual funds that were stagnant for the last five years, saw a sharp rise to 53 as of 9 August. As per data from Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the number of fund houses were hovering around 45 between FY19 and FY24, and saw a sudden rise to 53 in FY25. Key factors include a change in short-term capital gains tax (STCG) bothering the portfolio management system (PMS) and AIF players, a new product launched by Sebi that gave benefit to mutual funds over PMS and AIFs, and shrinking revenues for brokers. And lastly, a very underpenetrated mutual fund market, which everyone wants to tap. On the PMS side, players like Abakkus Asset Managers, Carnelian Asset Management Advisors, Marcellus Investment Managers, ASK, and others are in the process of getting a mutual fund license, according to Sebi. On the broking side, Choice International Ltd, Estee Advisors Pvt Ltd have been there. Pantomath Capital Advisors Ltd, an investment banking company, also got a mutual find licence. In the FY24 Union Budget, the STCG was increased to 20% from 15%, which reduced the post-tax returns for PMS and AIFs, experts said. Unlike mutual funds, PMS and AIFs pay a tax, called a tax on churn, every time they sell a stock. So, whenever they have to sell a stock and buy another, the investor ends up paying either LTCG or STCG on the gains it made on the stock. 'Since the STCG was jacked up to 20%, PMS schemes are immediately at a disadvantage to mutual funds in terms of taxation. When the tax was low, PMSes could deal with STCG but the tax now increased it creates a performance lag which no PMS wants," said Saurabh Mukherjea, founder and chief investment officer (CIO) at Marcellus Investment Managers, stating this to be one of the reasons why PMS players are getting MF licenses. Marcellus Investment has also got an in-principle nod from Sebi to start a mutual fund. PMS and AIFs have captive customers; distribution network in place and with the added benefit of taxation, mutual fund becomes a natural extension of their business to scale AUM, said Juzer Gabajiwala, director at Ventura. New players are trying to tap into the industry on the back of strong inflows in the space. Assets under management (AUM) for the mutual fund industry reached ₹74.41 lakh crore in June, marking a 13.2% on-quarter growth. Also, the quarter ending June 2025 saw a 16% rise in year-on-year (y-o-y) in net inflows. Net inflows in the month of June were at ₹49,095 crore. Disruptor product Earlier this year, Sebi introduced a new product called Specialized Investment Funds (SIFs), with a minimum investment requirement of ₹10 lakh. Positioned as a higher-risk option compared to mutual funds, SIFs are designed to bridge the gap between mutual funds and higher-ticket products like PMS and AIFs, where the minimum investment is ₹50 lakh and ₹1 crore, respectively. One reason why PMS and AIF players are now seeking mutual fund licences is that only mutual funds are permitted to launch SIFs. These funds can employ riskier strategies—such as long-short and sector rotation—that PMS and AIFs traditionally offered. The catch for the alternatives industry is that SIFs are taxed like mutual funds (no tax on churn), which could prompt some investors to choose them over PMS or AIF options, say experts. 'PMS and AIFs see an opportunity in managing a SIF business which can be only possible if they have a MF license. They can broaden their target audience and reach by introducing flexible products in SIF as it offers lower ticket size than a PMS or an AIF, targeting the mass-affluent investors who do not classify as HNIs," said said Debasish Mohanty, chief strategy officer at the Wealth Company Mutual Fund. Edelweiss MF, Mirae Capital Asset Mutual Fund, and SBI MF have so far announced their plans to enter the SIF space. New revenue stream With Sebi's recent clampdown on the F&O segment squeezing broker revenues, many industry experts see asset management as the next natural extension for broking firms. (LINK STORY) The new Sebi regulations, especially those related to IT infrastructure, apply uniformly to all regulated entities, not just brokers. This means most of the required systems and compliance costs are already in place for brokers, said Jimmy Patel, managing director at Quantum Mutual Fund. He said with these synergies and a need to diversify revenue streams, launching an AMC becomes an attractive next step. 'The only major additional expense in starting an asset management company (AMC) is research and fund management itself," Patel said. Fund management costs can also be lowered at the start by launching passive products. For instance, Zerodha entered the space with passive funds. More recently, Choice AMC Pvt Ltd—whose parent company is a broker—announced plans to begin with passive products such as index funds and ETFs. Importantly, the cost of running an AMC can be kept under control. 'Conventional models with active fund management and wide distribution networks require significant spending on research, fund managers, and physical offices," said Sandeep Bagla, chief executive officer (CEO) of TRUST Mutual Fund. 'However, newer approaches, such as digital distribution and quant-based strategies, reduce costs by minimizing fund management expenses and relying more on technology," Bagla added. Untapped potential The mutual fund industry is very underpenetrated in India, hence more people want to tap this space, say experts. 'India is currently a very underpenetrated MF market, and we need more mutual funds as the industry cannot be concentrated in the hands of a few top players," said Patel. As of June, the average AUM for the top 10 mutual funds make 76% of the total AUM of the mutual fund industry, as per the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). According to data from AMFI and Sebi, as of March 2025, India had 5.3 crore unique investors in mutual funds. This number is much lower than the 19.25 crore total demat accounts in India as of March end. If we look at the total MFs, which are 53 currently, the number of PMS players is 466. While the latest data on AIFs could not be immediately sourced, the total as of March 2024 was 1,283, including category 1, 2, 3 AIFs, as per Sebi. What's ahead? In the next one year, we might see the total number of mutual funds touching around 60-65, said Bagla. 'Even though we might see many entering the mutual fund space, their success will require consistent performance and trust unlike broking, where clients can switch easily for better service or lower fees," said an industry person. The person added that entry into the MF space was easy, but no player can grab a significant market share in the first couple of years.
