PMS run by Maheshwari & others look up in Nov, but Porinju’s one still down

The semblance of a rebound in domestic equities helped top money managers on Dalal Street breathe easy in November.

As the tide turned after a painful selloff through September-October, portfolio management services (PMS) run by some of the well-known money managers delivered up to 10 per cent return in November. After nearly 5 per cent plunge in October, the Nifty50 recovered 4.72 per cent in November.

Among the notable performers, The Basant Maheshwari Wealth Adviser’s PMS rallied 10.41 per cent in November. The fund, managed by Kolkata-based investor Basant Maheshwari, had tanked as much as 22 per cent in September and another 6.10 per cent in October. With 167 investors, Maheshwari was managing around Rs 182 crore of assets as of November 30, 2018.

“The market right now is one where you have to protect your skin. We have seen a lot of issues over the past 45-60 days, and people who have survived that should actually be not on the back foot in that sense,” Maheshwari said in an interaction with ETNow.

“You cannot be adventurous in this kind of a market, especially with six months to go for the general election. We may not be going back to an October-like situation and the worst is behind us, but don’t expect the market to do any heroics and give us anything on a platter till the elections are over,” he said.

A PMS managed by ASK Investment Managers gained 6.16 per cent last month after taking a 13 per cent hit in September and 3 per cent in October. Similar schemes run by Ambit Capital and DMZ Partners Investment Management gained 5 per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively, last month.

The PMS of Motilal Oswal Asset Management, which is the largest by asset size, and the one managed by Enam Asset Management gained 3.15 per cent and 3.71 per cent, respectively, in November. The Motilal Oswal scheme had dropped 12 per cent in September and 2.50 per cent in October. Enam’s scheme had fallen 12 per cent and 0.20 per cent, respectively, in those two months.

With a net asset under management of Rs 14,121 crore, Motilal Oswal’s PMS had 40,716 investors at the end of November, 2018. Old Bridge Capital Management, managed by industry veteran Kenneth Andrade, Karma Capital Advisors, Birla Sun Life Asset Mangement, ICICI Prudential Asset Management and Alchemy Capital Management gained between 1 per cent and 5 per cent last month.

Kochi-based investor Porinju Veliyath’s PMS dipped 2.10 per cent in November. Veliyath took a massive 20 per cent hit in September and another 3.6 per cent in October on his portfolio, comprising largely smallcaps and midcaps.

The smallcap czar in a latest letter to investors this past weekend said the prevailing bearish trend should reverse in 2019 the way it happened in 2009. “I see hundreds of stocks including many of the ones we have invested in, more than 100 per cent up by next year,” he said, adding that it is a good opportunity for fresh investments regardless of what the election outcome is, where the global trade war heads. “This discount sale won’t last long,” he said.