How do you view the broader market amid geopolitical tensions, inflation, and currency concerns?
Amisha Vora: The key word I would use is resilience. Markets have shown tremendous resilience, and so has the economy. Despite the rupee being at current levels and commodity prices being higher over the past 12 to 18 months, demand has remained strong, helped by the after-effects of goods and services tax rationalisation and income-tax reduction.
Foreign currency non-resident (bank) flows should also help keep liquidity afloat. At the same time, the rupee could help exports. Exports being up 1 per cent is significant, given the global environment.
Investment within India is happening across sectors. Semiconductor facilities and data centres are driving an ancillary chain involving wires, cables, air conditioners, transformers, and switchgear, followed by investments in power generation and the grid.
Which sectors are you particularly positive on?
Amisha: The entire power ecosystem and its ancillary sectors, along with data centres and their ancillary businesses, will remain important. Some speciality chemicals used in battery and chip manufacturing could also do well. In commodities, we took earlier positions in steel and aluminium and in zinc and copper, and last quarter we added sugar and soft commodities to the portfolio.
Shipbuilding is also coming up in a big way and is a sector we are looking to add. We are also positive on capital market plays such as asset management companies. There is a broader capex cycle underway. Investments are happening in semiconductors, data centres, power, grid infrastructure, electric vehicles (EVs), renewables, solar, battery storage, ethanol, and EV charging. Airport, port, and railway infrastructure are also areas where the traction is continuing.
Defence stocks have already risen sharply. Is there still a case to invest in the sector?
Amisha: The story is not just about stock prices. India’s annual domestic defence production has already reached roughly ₹1.78 trillion. As the industry scales further, we expect the opportunities across its vendor ecosystem to deepen. The same will happen in shipbuilding. We had the defence and industrial pack right in the early cycle of 2022-24. We also played the real estate cycle well and subsequently had a significant allocation to public-sector banks.
What is your view on Indian information technology (IT) amid the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)?
Amisha: The Indian IT sector is at an important transition point as AI adoption accelerates. While there could be some near-term pressure on headcount and pricing, we believe the underlying demand environment remains constructive, with several large and midcap IT companies already building AI-led revenue streams and seeing opportunities in their order books. Over time, productivity gains from AI could also support margins and create new avenues for growth.
From a two- to four-year perspective, we remain constructive on the sector, particularly as valuations have already factored in a significant degree of caution. Within the IT space, we have a preference for select midcap names, given their agility, faster decision-making, and ability to adapt quickly to the evolving AI landscape.
Within the midcap segment, our preference is Mphasis, followed by Coforge and Persistent, in that order. We believe these companies are well placed to leverage the evolving AI opportunity and participate in the next phase of technology spending, although the journey is likely to remain gradual and uneven.
How do you see the proposed overhaul of the portfolio management services (PMS) framework?
Siddharth Vora: It is going to be an interesting area. We already have a fund of funds product. Competition will increase because wealth managers, distributors and mutual fund distributors can participate with relatively little networth requirement. The positive is that accountability will also increase. Performance will be tracked, benchmarks will be visible, and underperformance will come under scrutiny. Clients will become more aware of how their money is being managed.
There will initially be a period when assets under management (AUM) get transferred, and people start with existing assets. But after two or three years, performance will call the shots. Overall, it is a good development for the industry.
You have been bullish on BSE for some time. What is your view now, given the concerns around futures and options (F&O) volumes and recent regulatory changes on the closing auction session (CAS)?
Amisha: Getting a stock like BSE at ₹700 and riding it to ₹2,400 cannot happen without fundamentals. We track roughly 1,250 stocks, looking at quarterly numbers in granular detail — not just profit and loss, but balance sheets and cash flows as well. BSE has remained among the top-ranked stocks in our framework.
With CAS, markets, particularly F&O, are going through a period of consolidation and contraction. So the stock could also consolidate for some time. A lot of transactions are now executed through algorithms, and there is a period when data can show disruptions or anomalies. Mutual funds are also rebalancing their active and passive portfolios in the same window.
I think it will take two to four quarters for the data to get streamlined and for market participants to understand how to transact under the new system. For now, it is a wait-and-watch situation. The National Stock Exchange listing on BSE could also be a positive trigger for BSE.
What is the difference between your non-discretionary PMS and a conventional PMS?
Siddharth: These are customised portfolios for sophisticated investors. A client could say that they have ₹50 crore and want to invest in three stocks, with a three- to four-year holding period and only in smallcaps. Another could want a 10-stock portfolio restricted to the top 100 companies. The fund manager provides research, recommendations, and advice, but the final trade decision remains with the client. That is what makes it non-discretionary.
How do you combine quant investing with fundamental analysis?
Siddharth: Our base is fundamentals. We do fundamentals through a quantified process. We look at 125 fundamental line items and rank each stock against its own history, its peers and the broader market. The term “quant” can be interpreted in different ways. For us, market data is part of the process, but we do not ignore the balance sheet. We are fundamentally driven, and about 80 per cent of our quant framework is based on fundamentals.
You have expanded into wealth, investment banking, and asset management. What is the larger strategy?
Amisha: The idea is to keep investing in people, teams, and geographies, serve more clients and do more deals. We have built a debt syndication desk for loans and non-convertible debentures and recently closed our first debt transaction for a renewable company. With the investment banking business, we are continuing to build debt capital market and equity capital market capabilities, including sector bankers for origination and placement.
Where do you see the company in the next three to four years?
Siddharth: We are currently at about ₹40,000 crore of assets under advisory. Even if we double our assets with a 50:50 split, that would make us a ₹1 trillion AUM house, with roughly ₹50,000 crore in recurring-revenue assets and ₹50,000 crore in transactional assets.
On the transaction side, we want to use technology and AI to simplify the delivery of our research and advice and personalise it for individual clients. On the recurring-revenue side, wealth, organic and inorganic expansion, mergers and acquisitions, MFs, PMS, and alternative investment funds will build the annuity book.
What are your plans for Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City)?
Siddharth: We currently hold a GIFT City licence, though we have not yet established an operational office there. Our priority at this stage is to consolidate and strengthen our existing lines of business before committing resources to further expansion.
That said, GIFT City remains firmly on our strategic agenda, and we expect to operationalise this presence in the near term, particularly given the rising interest among high networth individuals in GIFT City as a preferred jurisdiction for their investment needs.
