The month of April finally ushered in a strong market as indices rallied sharply after a prolonged period of weak moves. As the results season unfolded, most companies reported healthy earnings growth, barring the IT pack. The Nifty recorded a robust 4.1% returns during April, while the BSE 500 delivered 4.59%. FIIs made net purchases of Rs. 5711 crore during the month, helping push markets higher.

April month saw as many as 214 of the 321 (two in three) PMS Investment Approaches deliver higher returns than the Nifty. When the BSE 500 TRI is taken as the benchmark, 192 Investment Approaches (six in 10) surpassed the index’s returns. PMS Investment Approaches gave 4.79% returns in April on average, higher than the Nifty and BSE 500. Since the rally was broad-based, multiple styles had a good run during the month.

Top 10 PMS Investment Approaches of April 2023

Here are the top 10 funds from the 321 PMS Investment Approaches tracked and analyzed by PMS Bazaar -

Each one of the top 10 Investment Appraoches delivered double-digit returns during April, marking a solid show of outperformance over the benchmarks. Multicaps figured prominently in the list, with 4 of such schemes featuring among the top 10.

In fact, each of the top 10 funds delivered more than twice the returns of the Nifty 50 TRI and BSE 500 TRI.

Green Portfolio’s Super 30 Dynamic topped the chart with a staggering 17% return during the month. The fund invests in stocks that are amidst a special situation, such as key management change, mergers & acquisitions, steeply reducing leverage, etc.

Negen Capital’s Special Situations & Technology Fund came second during the month, with 13.63% returns. The scheme is focused on investing in opportunities arising from demergers and spin-offs.

Basant Maheshwari’s Equity Fund was third on the list, with 12.65% returns in April.

The performance of the top 10 Investment Approaches and their comparison with Nifty and BSE 500 for the month are given below.

Category-wise performance of PMS players

The chart below depicts the performance of the PMS schemes across categories in the month of April. Small caps led the charge with the category recording a robust 6.9% during the month. These were closely followed by thematic schemes, which delivered 6.77% on an average in April. Small & midcap, multicap, and midcap funds delivered over 5% in the month. The large cap category was the worst performer, delivering only 3.87% in April.

Small caps

It turned out to be a great month for the small cap category, with 16 of the 20 Investment Approaches (four in ten) beating the BSE 500 TRI and 17 funds beating the Nifty 50 TRI.

First in the chart was Equitree Capital Advisor’s Emerging Opportunities – which follows a mix of value, contrarian, and growth strategies and invests in small and microcaps – with a staggering 12.43% return during the month. Closely following it was the India Rising SME Stars Investment Approach of Hem Securities. Aequitas Investment Consultancy’s India Opportunities Product came third with 9.93% returns during April. The fund invests in a combination of growth, value, and contrarian stocks and follows a multi-bagger strategy.

The performance of the category with respect to the BSE 500 TRI and Nifty 50 TRI is depicted in the graph below.

Small & Midcaps

Barring one Investment Approach, all funds delivered positive returns in the category during April. The category delivered 5.18% on an average in the month.

The Aggressive Investment Approach of Badjate Stocks &Shares delivered a whopping 9.87% return during April and was on top of the chart. This fund seeks to generate higher alpha by investing in high-beta stocks. Next on the list was Care Portfolio Managers’ Growth Plus Value Investment Approach, with 9.17% return. Roha Asset Managers’ Emerging Champions Investment Approach came third with 8.98% return. This fund invests in small and midcap companies that show consistent growth.

Midcap

Midcap Investment Approaches had a reasonably strong run in April. As many as 19 PMS Investment Approaches beat the Nifty 50 TRI, while 16 Investment Approaches got the better of the BSE 500 TRI. The category delivered 5.78% on an average in April.

The Ace midcap fund of Asit C Mehta Investment Intermediates, which follows a value strategy, topped the performance chart with 9.16% during the month. The next two spots were taken by the Investment Approaches of Centrum PMS – Multibagger and Deep Value – which delivered 8.81% and 8.45% during the month.

The top three funds delivered 4-4.5 percentage points more than the Nifty 50 TRI and BSE 500 TRI in the month.

The chart below shows how the midcap category fared against the Nifty 50 TRI and BSE 500 TRI in April.

Large and Midcap

The 12 large and midcap funds delivered 4.54% on an average in April. All 12 Investment Approaches gave positive returns during the month.

True Beacon Investment Advisors’ Equity Factor Quant Investment Approach, which combines fundamental analysis and data science, came on top during the month with 6.45% return. The All Weather Portfolio of Torus Oro Portfolio Management was next with 5.4% return in April. Bonanza’s Growth Investment Approach, which uses both fundamental and technical analysis to pick stocks, was third with 5.16% return in April.

Large cap

The Large cap category delivered a relatively lukewarm show in April, as it delivered only 3.87% on an average. Of the 26 Investment Approaches tracked, 10 beat the BSE 500 TRI’s returns for the month, while 12 beat the Nifty TRI.

The Diversified Growth Investment Approach of Agreya Capital Advisors came on top with 6.3% return during the month. This fund follows a factor-based stock selection process. Emkay’s 12 from Emkay Investment Managers, which invests in a 12-stock portfolio, was second with 5.48% return. Just a tad bit lower in third place was the Opportunities Portfolio of Renaissance with 5.47% return.

In the chart below, the performance of the large-cap category average against the returns of the Nifty 50 TRI and BSE 500 TRI in April is depicted.

Multi-caps

Multi-cap Investment Approaches recorded a satisfying month with the category notching up 5.39%. As many as 102 of the 154 Investment Approaches (2 in 3) outperformed the BSE 500’s return of 4.59% in April, and 112 (7 in 10) did better than the Nifty 50 TRI.

The special situations & technology fund of Negen Capital was on top with 14.63% return in the month. Equity Fund from Basan Maheshwari Wealth Advisors notched up 12.65% in the month and came second. Invasset’s Growth Pro Max Fund came third with 11.82% return during April.

In the graph below, the performance comparison of the multi-cap PMS category with the benchmark BSE 500 TRI and Nifty 50 TRI for April is given.

Thematic 

The thematic category was the second-best among all categories in the month of April. The 13 PMS Investment Approaches in the category gave an average return of 6.77%.

All the top three Investment Approaches  - Super 30 Dynamic, The Impact ESG, and Dividend Yield – came from the house of Green Portfolio. Super Dynamic recorded 17% return and topped the chart. The Impact ESG and Dividend Yield Investment Approaches came second and third, respectively with 11.81% and 10.98% returns during the month.

As the results season winds to a close, the action would shift to macroeconomic factors. The RBI paused rate hikes. Indications are the US Federal Reserve may also not hike rates immediately. Inflation is coming under control domestically and overseas. The indications are thus positive for the market. The onset of the monsoon will be the next key event to watch.