Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) have become an increasingly important part of India's wealth-management. From private equity and venture capital to long-short equities, private credit and special situations, AIFs give sophisticated investors access to strategies that are often unavailable through traditional mutual funds. But choosing an AIF is not only about looking at the fund's past returns. The person or team managing the capital can have an equally important role in determining how opportunities are identified, risks are handled and portfolios are constructed. This is where top AIF fund managers in India come into the picture.
In this guide, we look at 10 Most Popular AIF Fund Managers in India, based on their professional experience, investment approach, fund-house presence, strategy expertise and publicly available information. The list includes managers associated with Carnelian, Abakkus, Swyom, Piper Serica, VentureX, Neo, Bonanza, Marcellus, ICICI Prudential AMC and Motilal Oswal.
The names are presented as notable managers rather than a definitive ranking of who is “best”. After all, the best AIF fund managers in India for one investor may not be suitable for another.
What Is an AIF Fund Manager?
An AIF fund manager is the individual or investment team responsible for managing the investments of an Alternative Investment Fund.
In simple terms, the manager decides where the fund invests, how much it invests, when it exits and how portfolio risks are managed, subject to the fund's stated investment mandate and regulatory framework.
Under SEBI's AIF framework, a “manager” is the person or entity appointed by the AIF to manage its investments. The manager can also be the sponsor of the AIF.
Depending on the strategy, an AIF manager may spend considerable time on:
- Fundamental company research
- Private-market due diligence
- Credit assessment
- Portfolio construction
- Valuation
- Risk management
- Deal sourcing
- Exit planning
- Corporate governance
- Portfolio monitoring
- Liquidity and exposure management
For example, a long-only equity manager may spend most of the time studying business quality and earnings growth. A private credit manager may focus more heavily on cash flows, collateral, repayment capacity and downside protection. A venture capital manager, meanwhile, may assess founders, addressable markets and scalability.
That is why simply comparing managers by returns can be misleading.
AIF Fund Manager vs Investment Manager vs Sponsor
These terms are often used interchangeably in casual conversations, but they can represent different responsibilities.
| Role | What it generally means |
| AIF Fund Manager | The individual or team taking investment decisions for the portfolio |
| Investment Manager | The entity appointed to manage the AIF's investments and perform associated responsibilities |
| Sponsor | The person or entity that establishes the AIF and is responsible for taking the fund through the registration and regulatory framework |
| Trustee | In a trust structure, the entity responsible for overseeing the trust and protecting investor interests within its mandate |
The investment manager may employ several fund managers, analysts and investment professionals. In some structures, the sponsor and investment manager can also be closely connected.
SEBI's framework places specific obligations on AIF managers, including maintaining appropriate infrastructure and manpower, addressing investor complaints, managing conflicts of interest and maintaining transparency.
So, when investors research an AIF manager, they should look beyond the individual's name and understand the entire investment-management platform supporting the fund.
How We Selected the Most Popular AIF Fund Managers in India
There is no official SEBI ranking of the “top” or “most popular” AIF managers.
Therefore, this list is an editorial selection based on publicly available information and the fund-manager research considered for this article.
The selection broadly considers:
- Professional experience – Years spent in investing, capital markets, credit, research or private markets.
- Investment expertise – The manager's demonstrated specialization across equity, credit, venture capital, private markets or alternative strategies.
- Fund-house presence – The scale, positioning and investment platform associated with the manager.
- Strategy relevance – Exposure to long-only, long-short, private credit, growth equity, special situations, SME or other alternative strategies.
- Public professional record – Qualifications, previous institutions and publicly documented investment experience.
- AIF ecosystem presence – Association with SEBI-registered AIF structures and alternative investment products.
The result is an AIF manager list India investors can use as a starting point for further due diligence—not as a recommendation to invest.
Top 10 AIF Fund Managers in India at a Glance
Here is a quick overview of the top AIF fund managers in India covered in this article.
| Rank | Fund House | Fund Manager | Experience* | Key Qualifications | Broad Investment Expertise |
| 1 | Carnelian | Vikas Khemani | 27+ years | CA, CFA, CS | Growth equity, multi-cap, fundamental investing |
| 2 | Abakkus | Biharilal Deora | 20+ years | CA, CFA, CFP, M.Com | Credit research, strategy, business analysis |
| 3 | Swyom | Radha Raman Agarwal | 20+ years | CA, Commerce | Long-short, compounders, listed & unlisted securities |
| 4 | Piper Serica | Ajay Modi | 10+ years | B.Tech, CFA candidate | Research, portfolio management, venture investing |
| 5 | VentureX | Rajesh Singla | 7+ years | NISM AIF certifications | SME, early-growth businesses, private markets |
| 6 | Neo | Puneet Jain | 19+ years | IIT Kanpur, IIM Ahmedabad | Private credit, distressed assets, turnarounds |
| 7 | Bonanza | Puneet Kinra | 20+ years | Not publicly specified | Quantitative and algorithmic equity/derivatives |
| 8 | Marcellus | Saurabh Mukherjea | 20+ years | LSE, CFA, FRSA | Quality investing, long-term compounding |
| 9 | ICICI Prudential AMC | Anand Shah | 25+ years | Engineering, IIM Lucknow | Equity, PMS & AIF management |
| 10 | Motilal Oswal | Vaibhav Agrawal | 10+ years | University of Pennsylvania, LBS | Fundamental equity, growth and alternatives |
*Experience figures reflect publicly available profiles and may refer to capital markets, investment management or financial-services experience rather than only AIF management.
1. Vikas Khemani — Carnelian
Vikas Khemani is the founder of Carnelian Asset Management & Advisors and has around 27 years of capital-markets experience. He is a Chartered Accountant, CFA charterholder and Company Secretary.
Before founding Carnelian in 2019, Khemani spent 17 years as CEO of Edelweiss Securities, where he was involved in building businesses including institutional equities, investment banking and equity research.
Carnelian describes its approach as focused on risk-reward opportunities, proprietary investment frameworks and forensic analysis. Its flagship Capital Compounder strategy follows a multi-cap, sector-agnostic approach. The firm currently offers PMS, AIF and offshore investment solutions.
For investors researching growth equity fund managers, Khemani is particularly relevant because of his focus on identifying businesses capable of compounding over longer periods.
2. Biharilal Deora — Abakkus
Biharilal Deora is an Associate Director at Abakkus Mutual Fund and an investment professional with more than two decades of experience in credit research, strategy and business analysis.
His qualifications include Chartered Financial Analyst, rank-holder Chartered Accountant, Certified Financial Planner and a Master's in Commerce. Abakkus also identifies him as a certified International Wealth Manager and credit research professional.
His professional background makes him relevant to investors studying managers with a strong research and analytical orientation.
Abakkus operates across public-market and alternative investment strategies, making Deora one of the notable names among AIF investment managers to track when researching India's broader alternative-investment ecosystem.
3. Radha Raman Agarwal — Swyom
Radha Raman Agarwal is the MD & CEO and CIO of Swyom. He is a rank-holder Chartered Accountant and commerce graduate from St. Xavier's College, with more than 20 years of experience.
His previous corporate experience includes Asian Paints and Pidilite Industries, where he developed an understanding of high-performing businesses and their growth cycles.
Swyom's India Alpha Fund is a Category III AIF following a long-short, multi-strategy approach across listed and unlisted securities, along with corporate actions. Swyom identifies Agarwal as the fund manager and the firm as sponsor and investment manager.
This makes Agarwal particularly relevant when researching long-short AIF managers and managers focused on identifying compounders and special situations.
4. Ajay Modi — Piper Serica
Ajay Modi is Director – Investments at Piper Serica. The firm's published profile describes him as having around 10 years of experience in research and portfolio management.
He holds a B.Tech and has pursued CFA and the Investment Management Programme from CISI, UK. Before Piper Serica, he worked in research at Thomson Reuters.
Piper Serica's investment approach has a strong connection with India's startup and emerging-business ecosystem. This makes Modi relevant to investors researching venture capital fund managers India, early-stage investing and growth-oriented private-market strategies.
The key point here is that venture investing requires a different skill set from traditional public-equity investing. Deal sourcing, founder assessment, business-model analysis and valuation can matter as much as conventional financial ratios.
5. Rajesh Singla — VentureX
Rajesh Singla is associated with VentureX as a fund manager and compliance professional. Current VentureX material identifies him as one of the fund managers of VentureX Fund I, a Category I AIF focused on SMEs.
His investment focus is on early- to growth-stage SME businesses across areas such as consumer discretionary, technology, chemicals and manufacturing.
This makes Singla relevant for investors researching pre-IPO fund managers, SME-focused investing and private-market opportunities.
It also illustrates why the phrase “best AIF manager” needs context. A manager specialising in SMEs cannot be directly compared with a manager running a long-short public-equity strategy.
6. Puneet Jain — Neo
Puneet Jain is Co-Founder and CIO at Neo Alternative Asset Managers and is closely associated with its Category II AIF platform.
Neo's official website identifies Jain as the fund manager for its Category II AIFs, including the Neo Special Credit Opportunities Fund, Neo Infra Income Opportunities Fund, Neo Income Plus Fund and Neo Radiance Fund – Series 1.
His background includes experience at Edelweiss, Goldman Sachs and Kotak Institutional Equities, with exposure to distressed assets, turnaround situations and equity research.
Jain is therefore particularly relevant to investors researching private credit fund managers India, structured credit managers, distressed opportunities and special situations.
7. Puneet Kinra — Bonanza
Puneet Kinra heads Quant and System Trading at Bonanza. The firm's AIF platform describes him as having more than 20 years of experience across capital-market research, portfolio management, algorithmic trading and retail trading.
His expertise spans algorithmic strategies involving equities and derivatives.
This puts him in a different category from traditional long-only managers. Quantitative strategies rely more heavily on systematic models, trading signals, portfolio construction rules and risk controls.
For investors researching hedge fund managers India, systematic strategies and alternative trading approaches, Kinra's profile offers a useful example of how technology and quantitative processes can be integrated into AIF management.
8. Saurabh Mukherjea — Marcellus
Saurabh Mukherjea is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Marcellus Investment Managers.
He studied Economics at the London School of Economics, where he completed a BSc with First Class Honours and an MSc with distinction. He also co-founded Clear Capital and was previously CEO of Ambit Capital.
Marcellus is widely associated with quality-focused investing and long-term compounding.
Its Marcellus Capital Trust is registered as a Category III AIF, while the firm's broader platform includes PMS and alternative investment products.
Mukherjea is therefore a prominent name for investors researching long-only AIF managers, quality-focused equity strategies and long-term fundamental investing.
9. Anand Shah — ICICI Prudential AMC
Anand Shah is CIO – PMS & AIF at ICICI Prudential AMC and has more than 25 years of financial-services experience.
According to ICICI Prudential AMC's corporate disclosures, Shah holds a bachelor's degree in engineering and a postgraduate management qualification from IIM Lucknow. His previous experience includes NJ Asset Management, BNP Paribas Asset Management India, Canara Robeco and Kotak Mahindra Asset Management.
His career spans several market cycles and institutional investment platforms.
That experience is relevant for investors comparing leading AIF managers India with backgrounds in large institutional asset-management organisations.
10. Vaibhav Agrawal — Motilal Oswal
Vaibhav Agrawal is CIO & Fund Manager – PMS & AIF (Alternates) at Motilal Oswal Asset Management.
The firm's current profile says he has more than a decade of stock-picking experience and manages approximately ₹10,000 crore across alternate products. He previously worked as a ratings analyst at CRISIL and investment analyst at Motilal Oswal AMC. His qualifications include a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from London Business School.
His investment approach includes fundamental stock selection, value and growth-at-a-reasonable-price approaches, with a medium- to long-term investment horizon.
This makes Agrawal relevant to investors looking at best alternative investment managers with a strong public-equity and fundamental research orientation.
How AIF Manager Evaluation Changes by Category
Not every AIF should be judged using the same yardstick.
SEBI broadly divides AIFs into three categories. Category I includes areas such as venture capital, SME, social venture and infrastructure funds. Category II includes funds that do not fall under Category I or III and generally do not employ leverage other than permitted operational borrowing. Category III AIFs use diverse or complex trading strategies and may employ leverage.
| AIF Category | Typical Strategies | What to Evaluate |
| Category I | Venture capital, SME, infrastructure | Deal sourcing, founder quality, valuation, portfolio support, exit track record |
| Category II | Private equity, private credit, real estate, distressed assets | IRR, MOIC, cash flows, credit quality, recovery, exit discipline |
| Category III | Long-short, hedge-style, public-market strategies | CAGR, volatility, drawdowns, Sharpe ratio, leverage, liquidity and risk controls |
Therefore, Category I AIF managers, Category II AIF managers and Category III AIF managers should not be ranked using a single performance metric.
For example, a private-equity manager may need several years before investments mature. A long-short manager may generate returns through multiple market cycles and may have more frequent portfolio turnover.
Important Metrics for Comparing AIF Fund Managers
Performance analysis becomes more useful when investors understand what each number actually measures.
IRR
Internal Rate of Return (IRR) measures the annualised return considering the timing of cash flows.
It is particularly useful for private equity, venture capital and private credit investments where capital may be deployed and returned at different points.
MOIC
Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC) measures how many times the original investment has been returned.
For example, a 2x MOIC means ₹1 invested has generated ₹2 in total value or proceeds, depending on whether the figure is realised or unrealised.
TVPI
Total Value to Paid-In (TVPI) combines realised distributions and the remaining value of the investment relative to capital contributed.
It is useful when evaluating private-market funds that still hold investments.
DPI
Distributions to Paid-In (DPI) measures how much capital has actually been returned to investors relative to the capital paid in.
DPI is especially important because unrealised portfolio value is not the same as cash returned to investors.
Other metrics
Depending on the strategy, investors may also examine:
- CAGR
- Absolute returns
- Volatility
- Maximum drawdown
- Sharpe ratio
- Sortino ratio
- Loss ratios
- Default and recovery rates
- Portfolio concentration
- Exit multiples
- Holding period
- Benchmark performance
For private equity fund managers India, IRR, MOIC, TVPI and DPI can be particularly useful.
For private credit fund managers India, investors should also examine defaults, recoveries, collateral coverage, rating migration and vintage performance.
For real estate AIF managers, property-level cash flows, occupancy, leverage, project completion and exit assumptions deserve closer attention.
Investors researching fund of funds managers should additionally examine the underlying funds, manager selection process and total layers of fees.
Key-Person and Fund Manager Risks in AIFs
AIFs can have significant key-person risk.
This means the investment process may depend heavily on one or a few individuals. If a key fund manager leaves, changes strategy or becomes unavailable, the fund's investment approach could be affected.
This matters particularly when the manager's personal reputation is strongly associated with the fund.
Investors should therefore check:
- Who makes final investment decisions?
- Is there an investment committee?
- How many analysts support the manager?
- What happens if the key person exits?
- Does the PPM contain a key-person clause?
- Can the fund stop making new investments after a key-person event?
- How is succession handled?
- Are investment decisions documented through a repeatable process?
A strong institutional process can reduce dependence on one individual.
How to Select an AIF Fund Manager
Choosing between popular AIF managers India requires more than searching for the manager with the highest historical return.
1. Understand the strategy
First determine whether the fund invests in public equities, private companies, credit, real estate, venture capital or complex trading strategies.
Do not compare a venture fund with a long-short equity fund as though they were identical products.
2. Study the manager's actual track record
Ask whether the performance belongs to the current manager, the current strategy or an earlier employer.
A long professional career does not automatically mean a long track record in the specific AIF being considered.
3. Examine downside performance
A manager who produces high returns by taking excessive risk may not necessarily be preferable to one producing more consistent risk-adjusted returns.
Study drawdowns, loss-making investments, defaults and recovery rates where relevant.
4. Read the PPM
The Private Placement Memorandum contains critical information about the AIF.
Investors should review:
- Investment objective
- Investment strategy
- Asset allocation
- Risk factors
- Fees and expenses
- Performance-related fees
- Hurdle rate
- Waterfall structure
- Lock-in
- Tenure
- Redemption terms
- Key-person provisions
- Conflict-of-interest disclosures
- Related-party transactions
- Borrowing and leverage provisions
- Valuation methodology
5. Check the team, not just the star manager
The best investment process should not depend entirely on a single famous name.
Look at the research team, risk team, operations, compliance infrastructure and investment committee.
6. Match the manager to your risk profile
A Category III long-short fund can have a very different risk profile from a Category II private-credit fund.
The right question is not simply “Who is the best AIF fund manager in India?”
It is:
“Which manager and strategy best fit my investment objective, liquidity needs, risk tolerance and investment horizon?”
7. Verify regulatory information
SEBI maintains the regulatory framework governing AIFs, and the AIF Regulations were last amended on July 14, 2026 according to SEBI's current regulations listing.
Investors should verify the AIF's registration details, scheme documents and disclosures rather than relying only on third-party rankings or promotional material.
Final Takeaway
India's AIF ecosystem has expanded well beyond traditional private equity. Today, investors can find managers specialising in public-market long-short strategies, growth equity, venture capital, private credit, distressed assets, quantitative trading and other alternative strategies.
The top 10 AIF fund managers India investors hear about may therefore look very different from one another.
Vikas Khemani brings decades of capital-market experience to Carnelian. Biharilal Deora represents a research and credit-oriented background at Abakkus. Radha Raman Agarwal operates a long-short strategy at Swyom. Ajay Modi is associated with Piper Serica's investment platform. Rajesh Singla focuses on SME opportunities through VentureX. Puneet Jain brings private-credit and distressed-investment expertise to Neo. Puneet Kinra specialises in quantitative and systematic trading. Saurabh Mukherjea is known for quality-focused investing at Marcellus. Anand Shah brings more than two decades of institutional asset-management experience to ICICI Prudential AMC, while Vaibhav Agrawal manages alternate products at Motilal Oswal.
Together, they illustrate the diversity of alternative investment fund managers India has developed.
For investors, however, popularity should be the starting point—not the final decision.
The more important exercise is to understand the manager's strategy, investment philosophy, track record, risk controls, team depth, fees, liquidity terms and alignment with your own financial objectives.
In other words, don't just ask who tops the AIF manager list India. Ask whether that particular manager, strategy and fund structure actually belong in your portfolio.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice, a recommendation, solicitation, or an offer to buy or sell any AIF or other financial product. The fund managers and fund houses mentioned are presented for general information based on publicly available sources. Past performance does not guarantee future results. AIF investments involve market, liquidity, credit, concentration and other risks and may not be suitable for all investors. Readers should independently evaluate the relevant fund documents, including the Private Placement Memorandum (PPM), fees, risks and investment terms, and consult a SEBI-registered investment adviser or other qualified professional before making investment decisions.