About Nine Rivers Capital and Its Investment Management Business
Nine Rivers Capital is an investment-management platform with roots going back to 2007, when founder Sandeep Daga established the business. The legal entity operating the domestic investment-management activities is Nine Rivers Capital Holdings Private Limited, incorporated in Mumbai on 1 November 2007. The company operates a discretionary PMS platform and has also offered non-discretionary portfolio management and portfolio advisory services.
The firm's investment business is built around listed equities and alternative investments. Its PMS platform currently presents two approaches: Aurum Small Cap Opportunities, focused on small-cap businesses, and Aurum Multiplier Portfolio, which follows a broader market-cap approach. The company states that its PMS business has more than 13 years of live history and combines private-equity-style diligence with public-market investing.
Alongside PMS, Nine Rivers Capital has an AIF platform. Its current regulatory disclosures identify Aurum SME Fund I as a Category I AIF and Aurum Rising India Fund as a Category II AIF. The latter is a scheme of Nine Rivers AIF One Trust, which is the fund trust and should not be confused with the investment scheme itself.
The broader group also operates a corporate-advisory business, giving the organisation exposure to capital raising, mergers and acquisitions and strategic transactions in addition to investment management.
Nine Rivers Capital SEBI Registration and Regulated PMS and AIF Activities
Nine Rivers Capital Holdings Private Limited is registered with SEBI as a Portfolio Manager under registration number INP000004169. The company's regulatory information also identifies its AIF-related registrations: Aurum SME Fund I – Category I, IN/AIF1/18-19/0641, and Aurum Rising India Fund – Category II, IN/AIF2/24-25/1630.
The legal structure is worth separating carefully. Nine Rivers Capital Holdings Private Limited is the investment-management entity and Portfolio Manager. Nine Rivers AIF One is the trust under which the Aurum Rising India Fund operates as a Category II AIF scheme. The trust, AIF and individual scheme are therefore not interchangeable terms. The company's disclosures also identify the Aurum SME Fund I as a Category I AIF and currently show it as closed to investors.
Nine Rivers Capital Investment Philosophy and Private-Equity Research Approach
Nine Rivers Capital describes its investment philosophy as bringing private-equity thinking to public-market investing. The idea is to study listed companies with the depth normally associated with private-equity diligence rather than relying only on conventional market screens or short-term price movements. The firm's process includes deep-dive research, governance assessment and on-ground channel checks.
The research process begins with understanding the underlying business. Analysts examine the company's industry position, growth drivers, competitive environment and the economics supporting future earnings. Management quality and governance are important parts of this assessment because the ability to execute, allocate capital and maintain financial discipline can materially affect long-term business outcomes.
Financial analysis extends beyond reported profit growth. The firm's AIF investment process, for example, highlights business dynamics, quality of earnings and financial modelling alongside factors such as addressable market, business franchise, management execution, cash flows and return ratios.
Valuation also forms part of the investment framework. Identifying a good business is only one part of the process; the price paid for that business determines the potential risk-reward of an investment. This creates a need to balance growth expectations with financial strength, competitive positioning and valuation discipline.
The approach is consequently bottom-up and research-led, with a preference for understanding individual businesses in detail. For listed equities, this framework is particularly relevant to small- and mid-cap companies where business research, management assessment and direct industry checks can provide information beyond standard market disclosures.
Nine Rivers Capital also describes its investment business as selective rather than focused simply on gathering assets. Its stated client base includes HNIs and family offices, with long-term investing and alignment of interest forming part of its positioning.
Nine Rivers Capital PMS Strategies: Aurum Small Cap Opportunities and Aurum Multiplier Portfolio
Nine Rivers Capital's domestic PMS platform currently presents two principal strategies.
Aurum Small Cap Opportunities is the firm's small-cap-oriented PMS approach. The strategy focuses on identifying listed small-cap businesses where the investment team sees scope for business growth and long-term value creation. Its research framework incorporates business fundamentals, management quality, industry developments and structural opportunities. ALTPORT provides a dedicated page for Aurum Small Cap Opportunities PMS.
Aurum Multiplier Portfolio takes a broader market-cap approach. Rather than concentrating the mandate solely on small-cap companies, the strategy is positioned as a diversified portfolio spanning market capitalisations. The objective is to combine opportunities across the market while maintaining the firm's research-driven investment framework. ALTPORT's dedicated page covers the Aurum Multiplier Portfolio PMS.
Both strategies sit within the PMS structure and should therefore be distinguished from the firm's pooled AIF vehicles. PMS investors have portfolios managed under the Portfolio Manager's mandate, while an AIF operates through a pooled fund structure governed by the applicable AIF regulations.
For investors researching portfolio management services, the distinction is particularly relevant because a PMS strategy is not the same legal or operational structure as an alternative investment fund.
Nine Rivers Capital AIF Funds: Aurum Rising India Fund and Aurum SME Fund I
Nine Rivers Capital's AIF platform includes two funds identified in its current regulatory information.
The Aurum Rising India Fund is a Category II AIF and operates as a scheme of Nine Rivers AIF One Trust. The fund is positioned around investments in listed and unlisted companies, with a particular focus on pre-IPO and growth-stage opportunities. Its current fund page describes allocations towards medium- to late-stage unlisted companies, pre-IPO opportunities and selected special situations.
The dedicated ALTPORT page for the fund is Aurum Rising India Fund Category II AIF.
The second AIF is Aurum SME Fund I, a Category I AIF registered under IN/AIF1/18-19/0641. Nine Rivers Capital's current AIF page identifies it as a close-ended fund focused on early-stage companies in sunrise sectors and states that it is closed to investors.
An important structural distinction is that Nine Rivers AIF One is the trust, while Aurum Rising India Fund is the Category II AIF scheme operating under that trust. The trust itself should therefore not be listed as though it were an additional investment product.
Investors looking to understand the broader regulatory category can also refer to ALTPORT's guide to Category II alternative investment funds.
Nine Rivers Capital Fund Managers and Investment Leadership Team
Sandeep Daga is the Founder, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Nine Rivers Capital. His investment background includes private-equity experience before establishing the firm. The firm's current leadership profile describes his focus on identifying undervalued small-cap businesses with strong fundamentals and growth prospects.
The asset-management team also includes Pragati Khadse, Senior Portfolio Manager. She has more than 20 years of experience spanning investment research and portfolio management, including previous roles with IIFL and J.P. Morgan.
Kunal Sabnis, CFA, is a Portfolio Manager with more than 15 years of financial-market experience and over a decade in equity-focused buy-side roles. His background includes research coverage of banking and financial-services companies.
The AIF investment team has separate leadership. Vinay Khatu, President – AIF, brings around 30 years of transactional experience covering private equity, domestic and international M&A and corporate finance. Kunal Jadhwani, Portfolio Manager – AIF, has more than 14 years of equity-research experience, including roles at Motilal Oswal AMC and ENAM Family Office.
The separation of responsibilities matters when evaluating Nine Rivers Capital's investment team. Not every professional listed by the company should automatically be assumed to manage every PMS or AIF strategy. Specific scheme-level appointments should be confirmed through the applicable factsheet, PMS documentation or AIF offering documents.
A dedicated profile for the firm's founder is available through Sandeep Daga.
Nine Rivers Capital PMS vs AIF: Investment Structure and Key Differences
PMS and AIF provide different ways of accessing professional investment management.
| Feature | Nine Rivers Capital PMS | Nine Rivers Capital AIF |
| Structure | Separately managed portfolio | Pooled investment vehicle |
| Primary examples | Aurum Small Cap Opportunities, Aurum Multiplier Portfolio | Aurum Rising India Fund, Aurum SME Fund I |
| Investment universe | Primarily listed equities | Can include listed and unlisted investments, depending on mandate |
| Regulation | SEBI Portfolio Manager framework | SEBI AIF framework |
| Liquidity | Depends on the PMS mandate and underlying securities | Depends on the fund's structure and terms |
| Investor documentation | PMS agreement and related disclosures | AIF offering documents and fund-level documentation |
The distinction becomes especially important for investors comparing listed-equity PMS with a Category II AIF that may have exposure to unlisted or pre-IPO businesses. AIFs can also involve different liquidity and documentation considerations. Investors can use ALTPORT's PMS vs AIF vs mutual funds comparison when evaluating these structures.
How to Explore Nine Rivers Capital Investment Funds through ALTPORT
ALTPORT provides access to information on PMS and AIF opportunities from multiple investment managers. For Nine Rivers Capital, investors can use the individual investment pages to review strategy-level information and supporting documentation.
The relevant directory includes Aurum Small Cap Opportunities PMS, Aurum Multiplier Portfolio PMS and Aurum Rising India Fund Category II AIF.
Investors seeking further information can talk to the ALTPORT research team for product documentation and research assistance.
Nine Rivers Capital PMS AUM and Operating Track Record
As of 31 July 2026, PMS industry data reports ₹750.23 crore in PMS AUM for Nine Rivers Capital, with the two listed PMS products reported separately in the same dataset. The reported figures include ₹708.20 crore for Aurum Small Cap Opportunities and ₹42.03 crore for Aurum Multiplier Portfolio.
This figure should be interpreted specifically as PMS AUM. It should not be treated as consolidated AUM across Nine Rivers Capital's PMS, domestic AIF activities or other businesses.
Nine Rivers Capital describes its PMS platform as having more than 13 years of live PMS history, while the firm itself traces its establishment to 2007.