Several Indian equity portfolio strategies posted gains in September as the Nifty 50 total return index lost 6.03%, putting the reported managers ahead of a falling index.
NSE Indices’ September dashboard recorded the index decline. The Association of Portfolio Managers in India (APMI) listed a 5.67% monthly return for Amaltas Asset Management LLP’s Keystone Fund. East Green Advisors LLP’s Quant Strategy returned 5.32%, while Atlas Integrated Finance Ltd’s Momentum 20 PMS gained 5.25%.
Keystone did not lead APMI’s broader September table. The table listed Compound 26 Capital at 17.52%, KRIIS Multicap Fund Strategy at 8.39% and Girik PMS BluFIN X Equity Strategy at 7.40%. It also showed a 5.14% gain for Bonanza Aegis.
Amaltas’s September factsheet put Keystone’s S&P BSE 500 total return benchmark down 5.57%. The manager said power ancillaries and optic fibre contributed most to the fund’s gain, followed by domestic oil and gas holdings. Financial services reduced its return.
Keystone had 18 holdings as of Sept. 30, with its 10 largest accounting for 79.9% of assets. Amaltas reported 98.6% equity exposure and 1.4% in cash and equivalents. Its public factsheet does not identify individual holdings. Amaltas describes Keystone as a concentrated contrarian value strategy, while East Green describes its Quant Strategy as systematic.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) cautions that portfolio managers’ reported returns may be difficult to compare because managers can tailor investments to individual clients. The figures therefore show how the reported strategies performed, rather than a uniform result for every client account.
Foreign portfolio investors were net sellers of Indian equities during September. National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL) reported net selling of ₹14,116 crore for Sept. 1-15 and ₹21,745 crore for Sept. 16-30. Together, the two periods total ₹35,861 crore in net selling for the month.
