The Indian stock benchmark Nifty 50 fell 3.9% in November, but the declines in the broader market were gentler. Midcaps fell 2.7% while smallcaps were largely flat. Naturally, PMS strategies that usually spread their bets across the market performed better. As many as 219 PMSes out-performed the Nifty 50 in November, i.e. almost 83% of the PMS strategies tracked by PMS Bazaar. Due to the lop-sided nature of market performance this month, the best performing PMS strategies belonged to midcap, small & midcap, multicap, smallcap buckets. Here is a recap.

Best strategies of the month

Headlines of a quicker than expected Fed tapering & new Covid-19 variant set off nervousness in stock markets in November. And with markets trading near all-time highs, both in terms of levels and historical valuations, a mild sell-off ensued.

Given that it was a negative month for equities, the top-10 performers totally bucked the trend and delivered reasonable positive gains to investors. Leading the pack was Right Horizons Super Value strategy. This is midcap scheme with almost a 3 year vintage. The PMS gained 4.58% in November, a handsome 700 basis point alpha over Nifty Midcap 100 (down 2.69%). Number 2 this month was Silverarch Mid & Small Cap Equity with 3.7% gain, followed by Systematix Dynamic Investment Portfolio at no. 3 with its multicap theme generating 3.35%.

After the top 3 PMS strategies were SageOne Small & Microcap (up 2.75%), Composite Investments Emerging Star Fund (up 2.65%), Carnelian Shift Strategy (up 2.18%), Green Portfolio Dividend Yield (up 1.91%), Centrum Good to Great (up 1.68%), Silverarch India Equity Portfolio (up 1.68%) and Wize Market Analytics Capital Mind - Long Term Portfolio (up 1.48%).

Given that the mood on the stock market was negative the top 10 in November 2021 were not the usual ones seen in October or September. The best performers had some exposure to Health Care, IT & Power sectors that stood out in November giving positive returns in an otherwise declining market.

Best PMS categories

Largecap - The average category return of largecap PMSes in November was -2.88%, with about 14 of 21 strategies under-performing this number against Nifty 50's 3.9% loss. The top performers from largecap PMS space were Agreya Capital Advisors Exposure Equity Index Strategy (down 0.08%), Wize Market Analytics Capital Mind - Market Fund (down 0.66%) and Ambit Inv. Advisors Coffee Can (down 1.39%).

Large & midcap - About half a dozen strategies in this segment reported a category average of -1.94% in November. The better performers among them wer Upside AI 250 (up 1.37%), Sykes & Rays Equities SRE Shield (-0.16%) and Bonanza Growth (-1.87%).

Midcap - The 21 midcap PMS strategies recorded a category average return of -1.37% in November, out-performing the Nifty Midcap 100 index's 2.69% decline. The 3 top best performers this month from midcap PMSes are Right Horizons Super Value (up 4.58%), Centrum Good to Great (up 1.68%) and Centrum Deep Value (up 1.44%).

Small & midcap - This category has 20 strategies that are tracked by PMS Bazaar. The category average in Nov-21 was -1.5%. This month's top 3 performers are Silverarch Mid & Small Cap Equity (up 3.7%), Composite Investments Emerging Star (up 2.65%) and Edelweiss Focused Smallcap (up 0.91%).

Smallcap - The 15 strategies tracked by PMS Bazaar in the smallcap PMS space reported a category average of -1.74% in November 2021. This fares poorly against BSE Smallcap that fell barely -0.16% in the same month. Nevertheless, the top 3 performers are SageOne Small & Microcap (up 2.75%), AccuraCap Picopower (up 1.43%) and Equitree Capital Advisors Emerging Opportunities (up 1.24%).

Multicap - This is the biggest category of equity PMS schemes. The category average of the 153 schemes was -2.15%, which is better than BSE 500's return of -2.97% in Nov-2021. The top 3 performers of multicap PMSes this month were Systematix Dynamic Investment Portfolio (up 3.35%), Carnelian Shift Strategy (up 2.18%) and Silverarch India Equity Portfolio (up 1.68%).

Thematic & sector - There are 12 thematic and sector PMSes tracked by PMS Bazaar. Green Portfolio Dividend Yield and Super 30 with 1.91% and 0.42% gain respectively topped the charts in November 2021.