Latest news with #SiddharthVora
Business Standard
23-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
From Tourism to Tech: Sector surge lifts markets in June, Small--caps lead
Indian equity markets weathered mid-month global volatility in June 2025, as domestic macroeconomic stability and improving investor sentiment supported a broad-based rally across segments. According to PL Asset Management's latest report, PMS Strategy Updates and Insights, the Nifty 50 rose 3.1% in June, driven by strong participation, healthy corporate earnings, and a sharp rebound in global equities after geopolitical concerns eased. Small and mid-cap indices led the charge, with the Nifty Small-cap 250 jumping 5.73% and the Nifty Mid-cap index climbing 4.1% during the month. These gains reflect a renewed risk appetite and broader market participation, even as global headwinds such as crude price spikes and foreign capital outflows kept volatility elevated. Sector and Style Winners Thematic sectors like Digital (+5.42%), Infrastructure (+4.89%), and Tourism (+4.38%) were among the standout performers in June, while on a 12-month basis, Defense (+21.78%), Healthcare (+15.01%), and Financials (+14.3%) outpaced the broader market. Banking and IT sectors also saw renewed momentum, aided by strong credit demand and tailwinds from digital transformation. Cyclicals led the rally in June, while PL noted that high-risk style exposures outperformed in the short term, even though they still lagged on a rolling 12-month basis. Valuations and Market Breadth While valuations—especially in the mid- and small-cap segments—have edged toward the expensive zone, PL Asset Management believes the shift is warranted, backed by strong earnings trajectories and a supportive macroeconomic backdrop. 'Market sentiment has been recovering steadily since March 2025,' said Siddharth Vora, Head of Quant Investment Strategies & Fund Manager at PL Asset Management. 'The Nifty500 Equal Weight vs. Nifty500 return spread is climbing off cyclical lows—an early sign of improving breadth.' He added that while no single style is dominating factor returns, a diversified, multi-factor approach remains best suited for navigating this normalization phase. Caution Ahead Despite Optimism The report concluded on a cautiously optimistic note. 'Disinflation trends, robust tax collections, and strong capital expenditure are providing a firm macroeconomic base,' said Vora. 'However, volatile FII flows, tariff-related developments, and monsoon uncertainties remain important variables to monitor in H2 CY25.' As the second half of 2025 unfolds, PL Asset Management recommends a balanced and dynamic approach to portfolio allocation, supported by earnings visibility and prudent risk management.
Hans India
17-06-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Indian equities outperform global markets in May: Report
Mumbai: The Indian stock markets continued their upward journey in May, supported by a strong economic backdrop and broad-based buying across sectors, a new report said on Tuesday. The Indian equities outperformed several global peers, particularly in the mid- and small-cap segments, driven by solid macro fundamentals and improving investor sentiment, according to PL Asset Management's latest report. Siddharth Vora, Head of Quant Investment Strategies at PL Asset Management, said India's solid economic fundamentals and improved global sentiment offer a positive environment for investors. 'India's resilient macroeconomic landscape, coupled with improving global sentiment, presents a constructive backdrop for equity investors,' Vora added. While the Nifty rose 1.7 per cent to close near the 24,800 mark, mid- and small-cap indices recorded sharper gains. The Nifty Midcap 150 jumped 6.5 per cent and the Smallcap 250 surged by an impressive 9.5 per cent. This strong performance was backed by cyclical sectors like defence, metals and public sector banks, as well as increased retail investor participation. The report noted that India's macro indicators remained healthy, with steady tax collections, easing inflation, robust Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data, and rising foreign exchange reserves. These factors helped build confidence among both domestic and foreign investors. The broader market also showed encouraging signs of recovery. The Nifty 500 rose 3.5 per cent, while the Nifty 500 Equal Weight Index outperformed significantly with an 8.5 per cent jump. This suggests that gains were more evenly spread across stocks, rather than being limited to a few large players. Valuations have risen with this rally. The Nifty's price-to-earnings (PE) ratio climbed to 22.3 times, while the price-to-book (PB) ratio stood at 3.6 times. Though mid- and small-cap valuations remain above their five-year averages, PL noted they are still within reasonable one-year bands -- indicating normalisation rather than overheating. In terms of investment styles, quality, momentum, and high-beta stocks were the top performers in May. The Nifty 500 Equal Weight Index gained 8.5 per cent, outperforming the market-cap weighted index. High-beta and momentum strategies rose 8 per cent and 5 per cent respectively, supported by sectoral rotation and improving sentiment. Quality stocks also saw strong interest, gaining 8.5 per cent on the back of good earnings and safe-haven appeal, the report stated.
Economic Times
16-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Buying the fear? Check out top stock ideas of best performing PMS funds of May
While the Iran-Israel conflict may have made stock market outlook wobbly in the near term, all past dips eventually get bought into, creating crisis opportunities for long-term investors. Top performing PMS fund managers have made sizable bets on stocks like Precision Camshafts, Hitachi Energy India, and Nuvama Wealth Management as geopolitical fears create entry points in quality names. ADVERTISEMENT 'Any correction coming would be an opportunity,' said Vikas Khemani of Carnelian Asset Management. 'India's earnings growth this year will be very robust, thanks to RBI easing, low inflation, and credit growth. I don't see a major risk, though the short term is hard to call.' Leading the pack is NAFA Asset Managers' Clean Tech Portfolio, which returned a stellar 16.01% in May, the highest among PMS peers. The fund is riding hard on industrial and energy transition plays — with Precision Camshafts (18.37%), Hitachi Energy India (18.03%), and Linde India (11.82%) commanding hefty allocations. This portfolio is essentially a powertrain of cleantech conviction, according to data sourced from PMS Bazaar. Negen Capital's Special Situations & Technology Fund, up 15.35%, isn't far behind. Its top holdings include Camlin Fine Sciences, Nuvama Wealth, and HEG Ltd, reflecting a tilt toward platform plays and special situation beneficiaries. Interestingly, Nuvama Wealth Management — a capital markets business — features in three top-performing PMS portfolios this month.'We have a significant allocation to the capital markets story — AMCs, brokerages, exchanges,' said Siddharth Vora of PL Asset Management. 'It's a structural story, but we are not structural participants. We'll stay as long as the quantitative triggers remain.'One of the month's more repeated names is Interarch Building Products, showing up in four portfolios — including Accelt, Bonanza, Waya, and Anand Rathi. It's a quiet favourite among PMS managers riding the infra and pre-engineered buildings theme. ADVERTISEMENT Among small-cap plays, Nine Rivers Capital's Aurum Small Cap Opportunities delivered a solid 14.4%, thanks to high-conviction allocations to Intellect Design Arena (9.6%), Astra Microwave, and CCL Products — the latter also held by Ambit Investment's Emerging Giants PMS manager with twin strategies in the top 10 — Samvitti Capital — is doubling down on mid-cap manufacturers and pharma exporters, including Kaynes Technology, Force Motors, Strides Pharma, and Gokaldas Exports, all of which appear in both its Aggressive Growth and Active Alpha portfolios. ADVERTISEMENT Blue Jet Healthcare, a relatively new pharma listing, has found favour with both Accelt and Waya, while Camlin Fine Sciences, TD Power Systems, and Shankara Building Products show up in PMS strategies with more than 13% monthly returns. 'We expect markets to pause after the ~10% Nifty rally,' said Seshadri Sen of Emkay Global. 'Valuations are stretched, and if Middle East tensions escalate, a sell-off is possible. But we remain positive on discretionary, tech, and materials for the medium term.' ADVERTISEMENT Despite the nerves, fund managers remain anchored in India's structural story — and they're placing their bets accordingly. From precision auto parts and building solutions to electronics, pharma, and financial services, this month's PMS portfolios offer a snapshot of what smart money believes will ride out the global Stanley noted in its recent India strategy that this is likely to be a 'stock pickers' market,' adding: 'We are capitalization agnostic.' ADVERTISEMENT With that in mind, for investors looking to buy the fear, these stocks might just be your roadmap. Also Read | Rs 1 lakh gold, $78 oil, 1,300 point Sensex crash: Israel's Friday the 13th bombshell (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
Time of India
16-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Buying the fear? Check out top stock ideas of best performing PMS funds of May
While the Iran-Israel conflict may have made stock market outlook wobbly in the near term, all past dips eventually get bought into, creating crisis opportunities for long-term investors. Top performing PMS fund managers have made sizable bets on stocks like Precision Camshafts , Hitachi Energy India , and Nuvama Wealth Management as geopolitical fears create entry points in quality names. 'Any correction coming would be an opportunity,' said Vikas Khemani of Carnelian Asset Management. 'India's earnings growth this year will be very robust, thanks to RBI easing, low inflation, and credit growth. I don't see a major risk, though the short term is hard to call.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Live Comfortably: 60 m² Prefab Bungalow for Seniors in Sidi Bel Abbes Pre Fabricated Homes | Search Ads Search Now Undo Leading the pack is NAFA Asset Managers' Clean Tech Portfolio, which returned a stellar 16.01% in May, the highest among PMS peers. The fund is riding hard on industrial and energy transition plays — with Precision Camshafts (18.37%), Hitachi Energy India (18.03%), and Linde India (11.82%) commanding hefty allocations. This portfolio is essentially a powertrain of cleantech conviction, according to data sourced from PMS Bazaar. Negen Capital's Special Situations & Technology Fund, up 15.35%, isn't far behind. Its top holdings include Camlin Fine Sciences, Nuvama Wealth, and HEG Ltd, reflecting a tilt toward platform plays and special situation beneficiaries. Interestingly, Nuvama Wealth Management — a capital markets business — features in three top-performing PMS portfolios this month. 'We have a significant allocation to the capital markets story — AMCs, brokerages, exchanges,' said Siddharth Vora of PL Asset Management. 'It's a structural story, but we are not structural participants. We'll stay as long as the quantitative triggers remain.' Live Events One of the month's more repeated names is Interarch Building Products, showing up in four portfolios — including Accelt, Bonanza, Waya, and Anand Rathi. It's a quiet favourite among PMS managers riding the infra and pre-engineered buildings theme. Among small-cap plays, Nine Rivers Capital's Aurum Small Cap Opportunities delivered a solid 14.4%, thanks to high-conviction allocations to Intellect Design Arena (9.6%), Astra Microwave, and CCL Products — the latter also held by Ambit Investment's Emerging Giants portfolio. Another PMS manager with twin strategies in the top 10 — Samvitti Capital — is doubling down on mid-cap manufacturers and pharma exporters, including Kaynes Technology, Force Motors, Strides Pharma, and Gokaldas Exports, all of which appear in both its Aggressive Growth and Active Alpha portfolios. Blue Jet Healthcare, a relatively new pharma listing, has found favour with both Accelt and Waya, while Camlin Fine Sciences, TD Power Systems, and Shankara Building Products show up in PMS strategies with more than 13% monthly returns. 'We expect markets to pause after the ~10% Nifty rally,' said Seshadri Sen of Emkay Global . 'Valuations are stretched, and if Middle East tensions escalate, a sell-off is possible. But we remain positive on discretionary, tech, and materials for the medium term.' Despite the nerves, fund managers remain anchored in India's structural story — and they're placing their bets accordingly. From precision auto parts and building solutions to electronics, pharma, and financial services, this month's PMS portfolios offer a snapshot of what smart money believes will ride out the global storm. Morgan Stanley noted in its recent India strategy that this is likely to be a 'stock pickers' market,' adding: 'We are capitalization agnostic.' With that in mind, for investors looking to buy the fear, these stocks might just be your roadmap. Also Read | Rs 1 lakh gold, $78 oil, 1,300 point Sensex crash: Israel's Friday the 13th bombshell ( Disclaimer : Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
Economic Times
16-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Good news getting priced in faster, narrow range consolidation likely in medium term: Siddharth Vora
Siddharth Vora, Executive Director, PL Asset Management, says after a sharp three-month rally, the Indian market may experience profit booking or consolidation due to priced-in good news and limited valuation headroom. While cautious in the near term, medium-term prospects remain healthy with favorable market conditions. IT and metals sectors are performing well, and capital markets offer long-term growth potential. ADVERTISEMENT How should one look at the market? Should one look at the positive side that yes, India GDP is doing good, the rate cuts are easing off, even the CPI number is quite favourable or look at the other side which is geopolitical uncertainty still persist and add to that is the recent move in the crude oil prices. How do you see the markets? Siddharth Vora: The right perspective to look at the market is that there are multiple positives from the macro front whether it is rate cuts, inflation, strong growth, we need to look at it from the perspective that we are coming out of a sharp rally over the last three months. So, in my opinion, a lot of good news is already priced in and one needs to be a little cautious from here on given we do not have too much valuation headroom in India anyways. Rs 13 lakh crore boom, but Q4 sends a wake-up call to smallcap investors We were always an expensive market. We corrected a bit and now we are back to an expensive market. So, all the good news is actually known by everyone, bulk of it is also priced in. In the near term, we could see some sort of profit booking or consolidation coming out of the strong rally and the lack of fresh upside triggers in the near term. So, in the near term, we could see a marginally corrective market, but again that is a very short-term view. From a medium-term, we do believe that quantitatively we are in very healthy, favourable, and stable market conditions. All other sentiment indicators have been positive. We flagged off a market recovery outlook early like first week March, last week Feb, and that has played out really fast. We thought it would play out over 6-12 months, but it has played out over two-three months itself. So, yes, the good news is getting priced in faster and that is a good sign from the market, could see some narrow range consolidation in the medium term. ADVERTISEMENT Earlier, you had mentioned that you had exited from the consumer discretionary pack. You had exited travel and tourism and were looking at themes like alcohol. Now, there is news about an increase in excise duty. The entire space is subjected to government policies. How are you looking at it right now? The other pack is IT, which is seeing a rerating. That is the only sector that is holding the fort in a market like this. Siddharth Vora: From an IT perspective, even in my last chat with you, I had said that it is a tail risk play in our portfolio. We have had a 12-13% allocation for the last two-three months, despite all the globally negative cues, US risks, we still had IT because of its free cash generating nature and comfortable valuations on the largecap side, traditionally giving a low volatility defensive exposure to the portfolio. From a volatility, quality, and valuation perspective, IT was fitting right in the quant strategy and therefore we have maintained our allocation and it is doing really well now. Where the rest of the market is seeing some sort of profit booking and correction, it is playing out the tail risk play, global play. So, both IT and metals are playing out well for us. They were contra positions at some point, but now they are turning favourable in the current markets cycle. ADVERTISEMENT Coming to alcohol, we have only had one name in our portfolio for the last five-six months now – Radico. It has done really well for us so far and despite everything, we continue to maintain a 2-2.5% allocation to Radico and we will stick to our position till we see any major development from a quantitative perspective. Fundamental triggers can keep changing, but quantitatively from a factor standpoint, Radico continues to hold strong across multiple factors. What is your view on some of the capital market plays because last month specifically, there has been no stopping in most of these counters. How long can this run-up continue and what factors do you believe are at play for this? Siddharth Vora: In our portfolio, we have a significant allocation to the entire capital markets play. It has contributed to our alpha for the month of May and June as well so far across the board right whether it is asset management companies, broking companies, some other platform companies, exchanges, or other capital market ancillaries, most of them have done well and we continue to hold this story. ADVERTISEMENT Within our financial allocation, it is lenders, capital markets, and insurance, these are the three broad pockets we have allocated and within this capital markets holds the relatively higher allocation and from a quantitative perspective, we believe we are well positioned to ride the wave in capital markets. It is a structural story, but we are not structural participants. We will stay in the story till quantitative triggers stay intact. The moment that changes, we will be out of the story. I can give you a fundamental view that for three-five years, this is a great area with visible growth, valuations are rich, cash generation is very good, but I know for a fact that if the market structure were to change, if there was excessive volatility, we would be the first ones to be out of the sector as right perspective to look at the market is that there are multiple positives from the macro front whether it is rate cuts, inflation, strong growth, we need to look at it from the perspective that we are coming out of a sharp rally over the last three months. So, in my opinion, a lot of good news is already priced in and one needs to be a little cautious from here on given we do not have too much valuation headroom in India anyways. ADVERTISEMENT We were always an expensive market. We corrected a bit and now we are back to an expensive market. So, all the good news is actually known by everyone, bulk of it is also priced in. In the near term, we could see some sort of profit booking or consolidation coming out of the strong rally and the lack of fresh upside triggers in the near term. So, in the near term, we could see a marginally corrective market, but again that is a very short-term view. From a medium-term, we do believe that quantitatively we are in very healthy, favourable, and stable market conditions. All other sentiment indicators have been positive. We flagged off a market recovery outlook early like first week March, last week Feb, and that has played out really fast. We thought it would play out over 6-12 months, but it has played out over two-three months itself. So, yes, the good news is getting priced in faster and that is a good sign from the market, could see some narrow range consolidation in the medium IT and metals are playing out well for us. They were contra positions at some point, but now they are turning favourable in the current markets cycle. From a fundamental view, for three-five years, capital market play is a great area with visible growth, valuations are rich, cash generation is very good, but I know for a fact that if the market structure were to change, if there was excessive volatility, we would be the first ones to be out of the sector as well. (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
