Top 49 PMS schemes deliver over 50% returns in 2023; portfolio managers share their secret mantra

Almost all portfolio management schemes (PMS) generated positive returns for their rich investors in 2023. The performance came at a time when the BSE Sensex advanced 19 per cent during the year. On the other hand, broader indices BSE SmallCap and BSE MidCap surged 48 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively. With a return of 96.57 per cent in 2023, Invasset LLP’s Growth Pro Max Fund topped the chart, as per data collated by PMS Bazaar. Overall, as many as 317 PMS schemes delivered positive return to investors in the past 12 months. Out of that, 49 schemes generated more than 50 per cent returns for investors. 

Anirudh Garg, Partner and Fund Manager, Invasset PMS said, “We attribute our success to our unique, scientific approach in stock selection. Unlike traditional methods, which often rely on the subjective judgments of fund managers, our methodology is rooted in rigorous data-driven analysis. This objective stance allows us to eliminate biases towards specific sectors, market caps or investment styles.” 

“One of the key strengths of our approach is its forward-looking nature. The stock market is inherently predictive and our algorithms excel in identifying and understanding trends, biases and valuations before they manifest in market movements. This proactive stance enables us to anticipate changes and adapt our strategies accordingly, staying ahead of traditional market analysis methods,” Garg said. 

Aequitas Investment Consultancy’s India Opportunities Product was next on the list with a 91.23 per cent gain. It was followed by Shepherd’s Hill Financial Advisors LLP’s Value Magno (up 89.55 per cent), Samvitti Capital’s PMS Active Alpha Multicap (up 85.13 per cent), Green Lantern Capital LLP’s Growth Fund (up 84.74 per cent), Equitree Capital Advisors’ Emerging Opportunities (up 79.71 per cent) and Investsavvy Portfolio Management LLP’s Alpha Fund (up 79.61 per cent). 

Siddhartha Bhaiya, Chief Investment Officer, Aequitas said, “The single most important aspect is to buy top-quality sector leaders at inexpensive valuations in down-beat and out of favour sectors with a massive potential for growth. A critical reason for our success in 2023 was the recognition of the intrinsic value of our stocks by the markets.” 

Sharing his view on the outperformance of Samvitti Capital’s PMS Active Alpha Multicap, Prabhakar Kudva, Director and Portfolio Manager, Samvitti Capital said, “We have been able to deliver superior returns to our investors driven by our approach which is led by a mix of active analysis of market data, news, corporate announcements and earnings. An ability to keep an open mind and flexible approach to getting into new opportunities has allowed us to be ahead of the market.  No doubt these returns are not repeatable but we will continue to endeavour to handsomely beat the benchmarks over a rolling 3 to 5 year period.” 

Pawan Bharaddia, Co-Founder, Equitree Capital said, “We are deep-value investors focused on investing in fundamentally strong companies at an inflection point of high growth. Most of these businesses are leaders in their own right which reduces the risk of investing in smaller companies. On the other hand, being under-researched and under-invested enables us to buy these businesses at valuations which are below their long-term averages.” 

Among the other top 15 movers, Vikas Khemani’s Carnelian Asset Advisors’ YnG Strategy, Asit C Mehta Investment Intermediates’ Ace Multicap, ithought Financial Consulting LLP’s Vrddhi, Ambit Global’s Alpha Growth, Green Portfolio’s Dividend Yield, Maximal Capital’s Pathfinder Value Fund, Badjate Stock & Shares’ Aggressive and Carnelian Asset Advisors’ Shift Strategy also gained somewhere between 65 per cent and 77 per cent during the year. 

Vikas Khemani, Founder of Carnelian Capital Advisors said, “Shift Strategy, focusing on two big shifts happening in India namely manufacturing and technology was launched much ahead of time in August 2020. Whenever there are structural changes in any sector or theme they last many years and create significant wealth. We invest in high-quality companies at a reasonable valuation. Our portfolio level earnings growth is 25 per cent, ROE is 18 per cent within beta of 0.9 speaks of the quality of the product.” He also added that YnG strategy was launched to beat fixed income return and portfolio benefiting from an inflationary environment. 

Commenting on Vrddhi PMS strategy, Shyam Sekhar of ithought said, “We follow a strict, disciplined investing style and buy high growth businesses only if they are attractively valued. Our research adopts a private equity style diligence in studying businesses thoroughly and this helped immensely to identify the companies which performed commendably last year.” 

With a decline of 1.32 per cent, Marcellus' Little Champs stood as the loser in the list, PMS Bazaar data showed. 

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