Let’s dive into the world of SIP fund managers, the experts who take care of your money when you invest. They play a big role in helping you achieve your financial dreams. In this blog post, we’ll explore how they work and why they’re important. You’ll get a closer look at the complicated world of money, and how it can help you reach your long-term financial goals.
The Context
It is not only intelligence that distinguishes great mutual fund managers; it is also better portfolio management practices — PlanB
When it comes to passive investing, mutual fund managers are frequently in contention.
Have you ever wondered what happens to your recurring investment plans (SIPs) once you invest money in a mutual fund? There is more to it than just your money being added to a pool of thousands of SIPs from other investors like yourself. The responsibility is transferred to the mutual fund managers who, based on research and analysis, make countless decisions about buying and selling.
The mutual fund industry in India is a highly organized sector. It’s regulated and monitored by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which strives to protect investors’ interests. So, aside from deciding when and how to invest your money in stocks, every mutual fund manager faces a slew of challenges to justify their actions and decisions. When it comes to the intricacy of managing a mutual fund, fund managers are bound to design funds while keeping the regulatory reporting standards in mind.
Moreover, the creation of a fund also takes investors’ goals, strategies, risk-bearing capacity, goals, and various policies into account.
Fund managers are accountable for ensuring that investors are aware of and follow these details and rules. It is also the fund manager’s accountability to ensure that all documents are delivered on time and by applicable laws and regulations.
Besides complying with regulatory authorities, they ensure the protection of wealth, fund growth, stock performance, and hiring of the right talent. This is because the responsibility of managing funds is extensive and fund managers must enlist the help of various professionals and even firms to deliver. The team that’s hired for help is usually responsible for specific tasks such as data crunching, analysis, issuing annual reports, acquiring capital, negotiating with brokers, and so on.
Criteria For Selection
The first component of our selection criteria is based on the administration of large-cap funds that have outperformed the benchmark for more than ten consecutive years. According to our experience, large-cap stocks are typically the ones that are saturated and whose values seldom ever decrease due to great demand.
Therefore, it takes a lot of conviction and consideration to decide to manage existing funds and continually pour more money into these stocks. The managers in our selection have provided or assisted in maintaining these funds at a return of 14% or more.
We compared the fund’s 10-year returns with the NIFTY’s decade’s worth of performance since NIFTY 50 serves as the benchmark for the majority of these large-cap funds. Please take note that over the past ten years, the NIFTY 50 has generated an average return of 13% as of 2022.
The sheer amount of assets under management (AUM) is the second criterion. The more AUM there is, the more difficult it is to manage. Thus, mutual funds with an average AUM of Rs. 5,000 crores or higher have been taken into consideration.
Please be aware that this study does not constitute advice of any sort and is solely meant to be used for educational purposes.
Here is our assessment of the top ten mutual fund managers the Indian Mutual Fund sector has to offer:
1. Neelesh Surana (Mirae Asset)
Number one on our list of top 10 Indian mutual fund managers is Mr. Neelesh from Mirae Asset Mutual Funds. Mr. Surana has over 26 years of expertise in stock research and portfolio management and he is an engineering graduate with an MBA in Finance.
He currently leads the entire research and fund management department at Mirae Asset Mutual Fund in his capacity as CIO. Neelesh was a Senior Portfolio Manager at ASK Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd. before this job, where he oversaw both domestic and foreign portfolios.
Neelesh has a reputation for developing strategies for Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund. He managed the fund personally till December 30th, 2019, working alongside Harshad Borawake. Gaurav Misra and Harshad Borawake, who are now in charge of the fund, were chosen as the new fund managers by Mirae Asset Mutual Fund in 2019.
The fund currently has an AUM of over 33,000 crores and has generated a respectable YoY return of 17% over the last ten years.
Neelesh now oversees 5 funds for Mirae Asset, including:
≡ Mirae Asset Emerging BlueChip Fund
≡ Mirae Asset Tax Saver Fund
≡ Mirae Asset Emerging BlueChip Fund (*IDCW Reinvestment)
≡ Mirae Asset Emerging BlueChip Fund (*IDCW Payout)
≡ Mirae Asset Tax Saver Fund (*IDCW)
* The term “IDCW” (Income Distribution Cumulative Withdrawal) refers to the distribution of earnings from a mutual fund scheme, which may comprise both dividends paid by stocks and capital gains realized from selling underlying assets from the scheme portfolio.
2. Sohini Andani (SBI MF)
Sohini Andani from SBI is ranked number two on our ranking of the top 10 mutual fund managers. Sohini began working with SBI Financial Management (SBIMF) in 2007 as Head of Research before being promoted to Portfolio Manager in 2010.
She worked as a senior research analyst at ING Investment Management before joining SBIFM. She has over 11 years of sell-side research experience. She has worked with many reputable brokerage firms in the past, including ASK Raymond James, LKP Shares and Securities, Advani Share Brokers, and KR Choksey Shares and Securities.
Sohini is a Mumbai University Commerce graduate and an ICAI-certified chartered accountant. With an AUM of roughly Rs. 32,700 crores and a 10-year average yield of more than 16%, she is currently in charge of the SBI BlueChip Fund.
Sohini Andani also manages the following funds for SBIFM:
≡ SBI Magnum Mid Cap Fund Growth
≡ SBI Magnum Mid Cap Fund-IDCW
≡ SBI BlueChip – IDCW
3. Ashutosh Bhargava (Nippon India)
Number three on our list of top 10 Indian fund managers is Ashutosh Bhargava. At Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Limited, Ashutosh Bhargava is the Fund Manager and Head of Equity Research. He has over 14 years of experience working in investment research after receiving an MBA. He has been employed by Reliance for 12-plus years. Before that, he spent more than two years as an analyst with JP Morgan’s “Global Economics Team,” which is situated in Mumbai.
He is an expert in rule-based and macro-investment methods. Ashutosh graduated from NMIMS (Deemed University), Mumbai, with an MBA in Finance.
He presently oversees the Nippon India Large Cap Fund, which has an AUM of roughly Rs. 12,000 crores and has returned an average of 16% over the last 10 years, in addition to other funds. For Nippon India, he currently oversees 22 additional schemes with a total AUM of roughly Rs. 44,000 crores.
This comprises several ELSS Tax Saver, Balanced, Multi-Cap, and Quant Fund variations.
Other top funds in his portfolio include:
≡ Nippon Indian Balanced Advantage Fund
≡ Nippon Indian Balanced Advantage Fund – IDCW Payout
≡ Nippon Indian Balanced Advantage Fund – IDCW Reinvestment
4. Shreyash Devalkar (Axis)
Shreyash Devalkar from Axis Mutual Fund Asset Management Company is ranked third on our ranking of the top 10 Indian fund managers. At Axis MF, Shreyash Devalkar oversees investor assets of more than Rs 40,000 crore.
He previously worked as a credit and sector analyst. He joined the Axis AMC in 2016 and took over the responsibility of managing major funds like Bluechip Fund, and Midcap Fund, followed by Multicap Fund in 2017.
Before this, he was associated with BNP Paribas AMC as a Fund Manager for more than 5 years. He has also worked as a Research Analyst at IDFC Asset Management Company (July 2008 to Jan 2011) and IDFC Securities (Sept 2005 to July 2008).
Mr. Shreyash has been in charge of the Axis BlueChip Fund for more than 6 years, and for the past 10 years, this fund has delivered an average return of 15%. The fund currently has an AUM of about Rs. 36,000 crores.
He also oversees the following other Axis MF funds:
≡ Axis Midcap (all variants)
≡ Axis Flexi Cap (all variants)
≡ Axis BlueChip (all other variants)
5. Anish Tawakley (ICICI Prudential)
Anish ranks at number five on our list of top 10 Indian Mutual fund managers. Anish is a Fund Manager & Head of Research at ICICI Prudential AMC.
He is currently responsible for managing the ICICI Prudential BlueChip Fund and the ICICI Prudential Manufacture in India Fund. He has accumulated skills in financial markets and strategic consulting throughout his more than 20-year career.
He has held different executive positions with Barclays, McKinsey, Bernstein, and Credit Suisse. Anish has a B. Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
He’s on the list here for the ICICI Prudential BlueChip Fund. Over the last ten years, this fund has produced returns that have averaged 15%, and it currently has an AUM of around 33,000 crores.
He also oversees the following funds at ICICI in addition to this large-cap fund:
≡ ICICI Prudential Manufacturing Fund (all variants)
≡ ICICI BlueChip Fund (other variants)
6. Mahesh Patil (Aditya Birla)
Mahesh Patil, who serves as Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited’s Chief Investment Officer (CIO), is ranked number six on our list of the top 10 Indian mutual fund managers. Mahesh oversees a broad investment team, which consists of many fund managers and analysts, and has more than thirty years of extensive experience in fund and investment management.
Aditya Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity, Aditya Birla Sun Life Multi-Cap Fund, and Aditya Birla Sun Life Focused Equity are among the funds he directly oversees. Mahesh joined Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC in October 2005.
In 2016 and 2018, Asia Asset Management presented him with the esteemed India CIO Award of the Year. The Aditya Birla group gave him the Chairman’s Individual Award for being a successful leader in 2015.
He has held positions with CMC Limited, Tata Economic Consultancy Services, Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services Limited, Motilal Oswal Securities Limited, and Reliance Infocom Limited in the past.
Mahesh graduated from the University of Bombay with an engineering bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in management studies Additionally, he passed the Chartered Financial Analysts test administered by the Hyderabad-based Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI). Mahesh is the current manager of Aditya Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity, which has an AUM of approximately Rs. 21,500 crores and has returned an average annual return of 15% over the past ten years.
In addition to this high-size fund, he is also in charge of the following funds:
≡ ABSL Focused Equity Fund (all variants)
≡ ABSL Frontline Equity Fund (all variants)
7. Prashant Jain (HDFC)
Prashant Jain comes in at number seven on our ranking of the top mutual fund managers. Though he left HDFC on June 30, 2022, after 19 years of service, based on the gains he produced for mutual fund investors, he is still meriting to be on our list.
Prashant Jain was an executive director and chief investment officer at HDFC Mutual Funds. With a total of around 28 years of experience in the mutual fund industry, he has been one of the most seasoned fund managers.
He is known to have managed the HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund, HDFC Equity, and HDFC Top 100 Fund while working with HDFC, all of which had an emphasis on Indian large-cap stocks. The three funds that Jain managed accounted for close to 40% of the total HDFC AMC.
He formerly held the position of chief investment officer at Zurich AMC before joining HDFC. Prashant has a master’s degree in business administration from the Indian Institute of Management.
In the last ten years, his recently held “HDFC Top 100 Fund” scheme has generated average returns of 14% and had an AMC of almost Rs. 21,500 crores. Although his future plans are currently unknown, some market rumor suggests that he may be going independent to launch his own fund. Certainties and new information are still pending.
8. Swati Kulkarni (UTI)
Swati has been ranked number eight on our list. Swati Kulkarni is an executive vice president and fund manager at UTI AMC.
She has been with UTI AMC for over 26 years and has been a Fund Manager since June 2004. Prior experience includes Fund Management of Equity, Balanced and Offshore Equity Funds, Macro Research, Quantitative Analysis, and Corporate Financial Planning.
Her previous assignment was with Reliance Industries Ltd in the Financial Planning Cell. She is a CFA charter holder and a master’s graduate. Before fund management, she analyzed companies across all sectors and handled mutual fund research. The fund that is responsible for her inclusion on our list is known as UTI Mastershare Unit Scheme.
Over the last ten years, this fund has effectively produced returns of 14% on average, and it presently has an AUM of roughly Rs. 10,000 crores.
At UTI MF, she is currently in charge of the following funds:
≡ UTI MNC Fund (all variants)
≡ UTI Dividend Yield Fund (all variants)
9. Shridatta Bhandwaldar (Canara)
Mr. Bhandwaldar is ninth on our awesome list of Indian mutual fund managers. He holds a BE in Mechanical and an MMS in Finance. He was formerly employed by Heritage India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. as a Senior Equity Analyst, and by SBI Pension Funds Pvt. Ltd. as Head–of Research.
He has also worked with Motilal Oswal Securities and MF Global Securities. Bhandwaldar attends to a variety of Canara Robeco funds.
This includes co-managing a mid-cap scheme in addition to co-managing a multi-cap fund (Canara Robeco Flexi Cap Fund) and a fund with an infrastructure theme (Canara Robeco Infrastructure Fund) (Canara Robeco Emerging Equities Fund). His large-cap candidate, Canara Robeco Bluechip Equity Fund, has an AUM of roughly Rs. 7,500 crores and has been able to provide a return of nearly 14% over the last ten years.
He also oversees the following funds at Canara:
≡ Canara Robeco Small Cap Fund (all variants)
≡ Canara Robeco Infrastructure Fund (all variants)
≡ Canara Robeco Emerging Equities Fund (all variants)
≡ Canara Robeco Flexi Cap Fund (all variants)
10. Harish Krishnan (Kotak)
Last but not least, Harish from Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company comes in at number ten on our list. Mr. Harish Krishnan has 13 years of experience spread over Equity Research and Fund Management.
Before joining Kotak, he was based out of Singapore and Dubai, managing Kotak’s offshore Funds. Previously, Harish also worked at Infosys Technologies.
He is a Bachelor of Technology (Electronics & Communications) from Government Engineering College, Trichur, a Post Graduate in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, and a Chartered Financial Analyst from the CFA Institute. Kotak BlueChip Fund which he manages has been able to generate a 14% average return over the past 10 years and has an AUM of about 4,700 crores.
In addition to this large-cap fund, he currently also manages:
≡ Kotak Infrastructure & Economic Reform Fund
≡ Kotak Focused Equity Direct
Conclusion
Due to the complexity and need for constantly changing tactics, the function of a fund manager is unquestionably crucial to the success of any mutual fund. While many investors use a variety of methods to evaluate the fund managers they are entrusting with their hard-earned money, the returns and the fund’s ability to surpass the benchmarks are always in focus.
It’s not as simple as it may appear to withdraw money from a fund, but the poor performance of the fund manager frequently causes investors to discontinue their SIPs and reinvest in simple, inexpensive ETFs that closely resemble the benchmarks.
So when selecting a fund, it’s a great idea to consider the skills, education, and experience of the fund manager. Feel free to browse the post about choosing the best mutual funds if you want to learn more about this issue.
We hope you liked reading this post. Do let us know if there are any fund managers we should have included on this list.
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