India's top smallcap multibagger hunter Siddhartha Bhaiya passes away after cardiac arrest

One of Dalal Street's top stock pickers Siddhartha Bhaiya, who delivered 3,700% absolute returns by picking smallcap multibaggers at early stages in his Rs 7,700 crore PMS and AIF firm Aequitas, has passed away following a cardiac arrest.

"It is with profound sadness that we share the news of the passing of our Managing Director, Mr. Siddhartha Bhaiya, on 31 December 2025, following a sudden cardiac arrest while on a family vacation in New Zealand," Aequitas said in a statement on Friday.

The 47-year-old fund manager founded Aequitas in 2012 after quitting his job as fund manager at Nippon India Mutual Fund where he worked for nearly 7 years. His India Opportunities PMS Fund has grown at a CAGR of nearly 33% and given absolute returns of about 3,700% in the last 13 years.


Bhaiya had a contrarian mindset, followed the principles of both value and growth investing to spot multibagger stocks. Since late-2024, he was bearish on the Indian equity market citing unsustainable valuations.

"Siddhartha was the driving force behind Aequitas. He was not only a visionary investor, but also a builder of institutions — deeply committed to intellectual honesty, disciplined decision-making, and long-term thinking. His ability to combine rigorous analysis with clarity of purpose shaped Aequitas into a distinctive organization grounded in strong values, robust processes, and a culture of accountability. Many of us were privileged to learn directly from him, and his influence will continue to guide how we think, act, and invest," Aequitas said.

The firm said it remains fully aligned with his philosophy and long-term objectives, and remains focused on delivering for investors in the manner Siddhartha envisaged.

The chartered accountant's vision was to turn Aequitas into a world-class $1 billion net worth organization. His PMS fund was the top performer in 2025.

Avanti Feeds, in which Bhaiya made 100x returns, is probably his biggest successful stock pick. He made 50x returns in Apar Industries and Sanghvi Movers. Smallcaps like JSL, GAEL, HEG, Finolex Cables and TIIL were 20-baggers for him. Other stocks where he made more than 10x returns are HIL, Garware, CCL Products, Cosmo First, Maithan Alloys, Nilkamal and Powermech.

While his PMS fund India Opportunities Fund's latest cash position is not publicly disclosed, the fund shifted to 80% cash holding when the bull market peaked out in late 2024.

"If anything, holding 80% cash is the easiest thing to do at this point of time. Given the valuations that the Indian small cap is currently quoting at and the frenzy across investors about Indian capital markets, I don’t see any logic in being invested," Bhaiya had told PMSBazaar in an interview earlier. November data shows that the Rs 4,000 crore fund had 81.5% of its holding invested in gold ETFs.

Given the elevated valuations in the Indian market, his firm had taken two big calls - buying gold ETFs and diversifying internationally away from Indian stocks.

The veteran fund manager was in the news last month when he described the current market as a “bubble of epic proportions” rather than a healthy bull phase at an event.