"A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it’s in hot water," once said Eleanor Roosevelt. This is one of the powerful quotes written on women. When the going gets tough, women get tougher. The toughness is hard-wired into them.

Since 2020, PMS Bazaar has been bringing out an annual report on women fund managers in India's multi-billion PMS industry. There were 2 women fund managers in 2020 within PMSBazaar universe and that number has risen to more than a half a dozen in 2021.

In this report, we aim to raise awareness of the women fund managers while acknowledging their presence, staying true to the value of gender diversity. By all counts, 2020 was hard. It was a year full of downs and ups. 2021 has been less taxing. Despite facing a tumultuous period of sharp market corrections, an unprecedented pandemic that has taken the lives of over 2.5 million people, PMSes have so far shielded and grown capital.

Entrusted with the money from HNIs and wealthy investors, women fund managers of India's PMS industry have carried their responsibility to a tee.

Let us look at these talented women fund managers.

In the debt segment of the Indian markets, there is hardly anybody who hasn't heard about AK Capital, the top-rated lead manager for managing debt public issues. A K Wealth Management is a SEBI registered portfolio management company and part of the A K Group.

Credit Alpha is a fixed income strategy focussing on debt investments across maturities,  credit quality and yields aiming to provide investors regular income and capital appreciation from their investments. It is managed by Aditi Mittal. The PMS debt scheme is ideal for investors with at least a 3 years horizon. Aditi is a Chartered Accountant (C.A.) by qualification and started her career with A. K. Capital Services.

Credit Alpha has delivered 8.96 per cent in the last 1 year period ended February 2021. Aditi manages the PMS strategy in such a way that the portfolio is recommended for investors with moderate to high risk appetite expecting a moderate return over a medium to long term horizon.

Running one of the oldest schemes managed by the women fund manager workforce in the industry, Aparna has been working for more than 28 years in the asset management industry in India. She joined SBI MF in 2007 as Equity Research Analyst. She is heading and managing Equity PMS from its launch in July 2016. The fund – SBI Growth with Values Portfolio invests in companies which follow positive standards of ESG.

The investment approach and strategy of Growth with Value, managed by Aparna, is to generate returns by investing in companies which have high growth potential, have good corporate governance, have high management integrity, meet positive standards of social responsibility and are not involved in environmentally destructive activities.

Growth with Value PMS has given 31.44 per cent return in the last 1 year, which is much higher than the category average of 27.71 per cent for the multicap PMS category. In the last 3 year time period, the scheme has generated 12.32 per cent compared to 9.70 per cent generated by BSE 500 index.

Hem Securities offers DREAM PMS strategy, which is managed by Astha Jain. The scheme aims to maximize return for investors and simultaneously minimize the risk of capital erosion. The strategy uses extensive multiple screening models, research tools and valuation matrix. Astha believes in offering a concentrated portfolio experience that eliminates small holdings and ensures diversification.

DREAM strategy invests the major portfolio in large cap companies. This keeps the portfolio strong in the long run but at the same time it also invests in small cap growth companies through deep dive analysis to build multifold wealth potential.

DREAM is a new scheme with less than 12 months track record. Astha, who has been with the company's research team from 2005, has made DREAM deliver 26.91 per cent in the six month period ended February 2021.

One of the most respected market voices in the country, Devina runs two PMS strategies which we feature here. The Indian Super 50 is a curated list of the best 50 stocks in the Indian stock market, at any given point in time. The strategy uses the AI- ML approach to remain completely neutral, unbiased, unemotional about stock selection. This stance also remains absolutely clinical in the exit strategy. The combinatorial approach Human-+ Machine Model makes the fund come up with a list of 50 stocks that are best positioned to capture nearly every single alpha generating move in the markets. In the last 1 year period, The India Super 50 PMS strategy has delivered a 54 per cent return, close to double of what the multicap category average is.

Devina also oversees IMAAP PMS strategy. IMAAP is a short form of Indian Multi-Asset Allocation Portfolio. The strategy takes exposure across major Indian asset classes such as Stocks, Bonds, Commodities, REITs etc. to deliver consistent, low volatility returns, based on top down allocation decisions. The IMAAP's core strategy follows central learning that nearly 90 percent of returns in investing come from getting the Top Down asset allocation right. It uses the same Human + Machine Model that powers all First Global investment products. IMAAP has delivered 24.7 per cent in the last 1 year period.

Kanika is the Chief Investment Officer of Upside AI, which uses machine learning to make better investing decisions. As fund manager of two schemes viz. Upside 250 and Upside AI Multicap, Kanika aims to marry age old value/ growth investing principles with new age artificial intelligence. She earlier worked with Mayfield India, Credit Suisse and EY.

The investing is done with the help of machine learning products that can make fundamentally sound investing decisions. Upside AI’s algorithm teaches itself (a) what is a good company; and (b) what does the market consider a good company in current market conditions. The human fund management team then does manual checks on governance and integrity before creating the portfolio.

Upside AI Multicap is size agnostic and suggests companies across market caps. The scheme typically ends up investing nearly 80 per cent in mid and small caps. It will hold a diversified portfolio of about 10-25 companies. It has generated a 1 year return of 52.22 per cent compared to PMS multicap category average of 27.71 per cent.

Upside Top 250 focuses on the top 250 companies in India by market cap and suggests a diversified portfolio of about 10-25 companies. It has generated a 1 year return of 27.16 per cent. This strategy has the ability to deliver alpha with market level risk, while maintaining comparable standard deviation and drawdown to index.

Natasha has over 11 years of experience in equity research and fund management. Prior to joining Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd – Portfolio Managers, she was working with Goldman Sachs as an equity analyst covering India Materials sector. Natasha manages 4 PMS strategies jointly with Vishal Gajwani (Head – Alternate Investments Equity).

Core Equity Portfolio focuses on significant alpha creation through investment in high quality businesses with consistent growth and returns profile. The emphasis is on strong research orientation in stock selection and investing in select 25-30 stocks to generate healthy medium to long term returns. It is among the longest running PMS strategies in India. In the last 6 months, the strategy has given 33.35 per cent return versus the multicap category average of 27.71 per cent.

Select Sector Portfolio (SSP) offers investors an opportunity to invest in high quality and consistent ROI generating businesses while practicing value investing philosophy. In the last 6 months, this scheme managed by Natasha has given 41.97 per cent, over 10 percentage points alpha over small & midcap PMS category average.

Top 200 CEP gives investors the opportunity to invest in Top 200 companies by market capitalization businesses that are central to the country’s growth drive. By investing in Top 200 CEP, investors also get to practice value investing through such large cap names. The PMS strategy has beaten large cap PMS category average in 6 month, 1 year and 3 year time frames individually.

Natasha also manages a relatively new scheme - Innovation. The strategy objective is long term wealth creation with lower volatility. Around 50-75 per cent of the portfolio is invested in companies under innovation framework and balance in secular growth companies. The end result is a diversified multi cap portfolio with about 15-25 quality companies. The strategy has given 33.96 per cent return in last 1 year period, over 6 percentage points alpha compared to the multicap category average.

Alder Capital B2C Growth is a multicap PMS strategy. It is managed by Rakhi Prasad. Its current portfolio of 13 stocks is well balanced across consumption categories that have potential to scale and have favourable industry structure.

Rakhi Prasad is an investment manager with focus on investment research covering financials, healthcare and technology. She has over 19 years of experience across asset management, investment banking, private equity, and risk management. She started her career at Goldman Sachs, N.Y. She has been honoured as India’s Top 100 Women in Finance in 2020 by AIWMI.

Alder Capital B2C Growth seeks B2C businesses with durable competitive advantage and sustainable growth at reasonable price. In the last 1 year period, the Rakhi managed strategy generated 23.27 per cent return and in the last 3 year period it gave nearly 8 per cent CAGR.