Top PMS schemes: These money managers delivered up to 50% returns to HNIs in 2024

Nearly all portfolio management services (PMS) schemes delivered positive returns to high net-worth individuals during the first half of 2024, when the benchmark BSE Sensex gained almost 10%. The broader indices BSE MidCap and BSE SmallCap rallied 25% and 22% during the same period, respectively.

With a gain of 47.81%, Turtle Wealth Management’s Profit Mantra, launched in August 2021, scheme emerged as the top gainer during the January-June period, as per data collated by PMSBazaar. It was followed by Green Lantern Capital’s Growth Fund (up 44.89%), Wallfort PMS and Advisory Services LLP’s Diversified Fund (up 43.09%), Moat Financial Services’ UpperCrust Wealth Fund (up 41.80%) and NAFA Asset Managers’ (up 41.80%).

The objective of Turtle Wealth Management’s Profit Mantra is to invest in current and emerging leaders with a turnaround factor in common through a quant-based investing process.  As of May 2024, the PMS scheme gave 31.74% weightage of construction material, 25.03% to capital goods, 12.11% to oil, gas and consumable fuels, 11.19% to automobile and auto components and 8.70% to financial services.

Overall, robust inflows from domestic institutional investors and increasing optimism following the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government retaining power for the third straight term propelled the domestic stock markets to record highs in the first half of 2024, despite domestic and global volatility.

Data further highlighted that Invasset LLP's Growth Pro Max (up 35.85%), Stallion Asset's Core Fund (up 34.86%), Valtrust Partners LLP's Valtrust Momentum (up 34.82%), ICICI Securities' Ace Equity Portfolio (up 34.45%) and Samvitti Capital's PMS Active Alpha Multicap (up 34.09%) stood among other major gainers.

Sharing his views on Active Alpha Multicap, Samvitti Capital's Prabhakar Kudva said, “The strategy is to look for changes in earnings tailwinds or change in perception of earnings over the next 4-6 quarters. Then we build a basket of such opportunities and review them periodically.”

Alchemy Capital Management's Smart Alpha Small and Micro Cap, Investsavvy Portfolio Management LLP's Alpha Fund, NJ Asset Management's Multicap, Green Portfolio’s The Impact ESG Fund, Axis Securities’ Contra and Turtle Wealth Management’s 212 Growth Mantra also gained somewhere between 31% and 34% in the last six months till June 2024.

Commenting on the themes which are looking attractive in the current market scenario, Alok Agarwal, Head-Quant & Fund Manager, Alchemy Capital Management said, “We continue to be positive on domestic cyclicals including real estate, power, defence, railways, industrials and auto. Revival in rural incomes may also spur earnings growth in related themes.”

“Government initiatives, rising energy demand and a move toward renewable energy sources are driving a dramatic transformation of the Indian power sector. India's power consumption is expected to almost double due to urbanisation, economic growth and rising per capita income by 2040,” he said.

Coming to the top five performers of June, Hem Securities’ India Rising SME Stars gained 23.81%. Money Grow Asset’s Small Midcap (up 19.22%), Wallfort PMS and Advisory Services LLP’s Diversified Fund (up 17.88%), Equitree Capital Advisors’ Emerging Opportunities (up 16.72%) and Equirus Wealth’s Long Horizon Fund (up 16.01%) stood among other major gainers in June.

Pawan Bharaddia, Co-founder, Equitree Capital said, “We have been early investors in our portfolio companies, carefully cherry-picking these businesses like a private equity fund, well before they gained broader market attention. Now that these businesses are scaling up, the market is “discovering” their potential and rewarding our foresight.”