Choosing the right PMS fund manager in India can be an important decision for investors seeking a professionally managed equity portfolio beyond conventional mutual funds. With India’s wealth-management ecosystem expanding, investors increasingly evaluate the top PMS fund managers in India based not only on returns, but also on investment philosophy, experience, portfolio construction, risk management, transparency and consistency.
This guide presents 10 popular PMS fund managers in India whose names and investment platforms are relevant to investors evaluating Portfolio Management Services in 2026. The list includes Nilesh Doshi of Green Lantern Capital, Vikas Khemani of Carnelian, Sunil Singhania of Abakkus, Amit Jeswani of Stallion Asset, Jigar Mistry of Buoyant Capital, Vijay Bharadia of Wallfort, Arpee Jani of Neo Alternative, Aditya Sood of InCred Asset Management, Prem Khurana of ICICI Prudential AMC and Abhishek Anand of Motilal Oswal AMC.
Importantly, “popular” should not be interpreted as “best-performing” or as a ranking of expected future returns. PMS is a customised investment-management service, and performance can differ significantly between strategies and client portfolios. SEBI itself notes that PMS performance may not be directly comparable across portfolio managers because PMS relationships are contractual and portfolios can be customised according to client needs, risk profiles and suitability.
Therefore, this PMS manager list India investors can use as a starting point should be followed by detailed due diligence on individual strategies, fees, risk, portfolio concentration, benchmark performance and the manager’s investment process.
What Is a PMS Fund Manager?
A PMS fund manager is a professional who manages an investor’s portfolio through a Portfolio Management Services arrangement. Unlike a mutual fund, where investors generally own units of a pooled scheme, PMS can provide a more customised portfolio-management relationship.
Under discretionary PMS, the portfolio manager independently manages the client’s portfolio according to the agreed mandate, investment objectives, risk profile and applicable regulations. In non-discretionary PMS, the portfolio manager manages the portfolio according to the client’s directions. SEBI’s regulations specifically distinguish these services.
This distinction is important when evaluating the best PMS fund managers in India. Investors should look beyond a manager’s public reputation and examine how the actual PMS strategy operates.
A portfolio manager may follow a:
- Growth investing PMS strategy
- Value investing PMS strategy
- Multi-cap PMS manager approach
- Small-cap PMS manager strategy
- Mid-cap PMS manager strategy
- Sector-focused strategy
- Special-situations approach
- Quality-compounding strategy
- Fundamental, bottom-up investment process
The objective is not simply to find the manager with the highest recent return. Instead, investors should determine whether the PMS investment philosophy, portfolio construction process and risk-management framework match their own investment objectives.
How We Selected the Top PMS Fund Managers In India
This list of top PMS fund managers in India is based on a combination of professional experience, industry profile, investment leadership, firm presence, publicly available strategy information and relevance within the Indian PMS ecosystem.
The source information reviewed for this article includes manager qualifications, career history, investment philosophy, strategy information and available PMS assets under management. Where AUM figures are reported at the firm or strategy level rather than being attributable to an individual manager, the distinction is explicitly maintained.
That distinction matters because PMS assets under management do not automatically represent assets personally managed by one fund manager. A large PMS firm may operate multiple investment approaches and employ several portfolio managers.
Similarly, PMS fund manager performance should ideally be assessed using audited and comparable strategy-level information rather than isolated return numbers appearing in marketing material.
The Association of Portfolio Managers in India (APMI) provides investment-approach-level performance information, including multiple time periods and benchmarks. Its database illustrates why investors should examine longer periods rather than relying exclusively on a one-year number.
Top 10 PMS Fund Managers in India at a Glance
| PMS Fund Manager | Company | Experience | Investment Philosophy | PMS Assets Under Management* |
| Nilesh Doshi | Green Lantern Capital | 30+ years | Margin of safety, quality businesses, long-term compounding | ₹948.02 crore discretionary AUM reported as of Oct. 2025 |
| Vikas Khemani | Carnelian Asset Management | 23+ years | Quality, growth, structural change and valuation discipline | ₹18,300+ crore firm-wide investment platforms as of June 2026 |
| Sunil Singhania | Abakkus Asset Manager | 25–30 years | Fundamental research, alpha generation and valuation discipline | Approx. ₹20,713–₹22,514 crore PMS reported around 2026 |
| Amit Jeswani | Stallion Asset | 14+ years | Growth, momentum and fundamental research | ₹8,719.86 crore reported by a PMS database as of July 2026 |
| Jigar Mistry | Buoyant Capital | 23–24 years | Fundamental, sector-agnostic investing | ₹13,538.59 crore reported as of July 2026 |
| Vijay Bharadia | Wallfort PMS | 20+ years | Bottom-up, structural growth and valuation | Approx. ₹596–₹608 crore |
| Arpee Jani | Neo Alternative | 8+ years | Fixed income, treasury and credit expertise | Different databases report different strategy-level totals |
| Aditya Sood | InCred Asset Management | ~20 years | Return of capital + return on capital | Approx. ₹1,300 crore PMS reported by one database |
| Prem Khurana | ICICI Prudential AMC | ~20 years | Fundamental, infrastructure and real-estate research | ICICI Prudential PMS approx. ₹29,391 crore across strategies |
| Abhishek Anand | Motilal Oswal AMC | 20+ years | Quality, growth, longevity and reasonable price | Personal AUM not separately disclosed |
*AUM figures are based on the source material and available reporting dates. Firm-wide AUM, strategy-level AUM and individual-manager AUM should not be treated as interchangeable.
Nilesh Doshi – Green Lantern Capital
Nilesh Doshi is the CEO and Managing Partner and Fund Manager at Green Lantern Capital LLP. He has more than three decades of experience spanning industry and equity markets and has previously been associated with companies including Pidilite, Praxair, Floatglass India, Edelweiss Financial Services, Way2Wealth and Edelweiss Securities.
His investment philosophy is centred on margin of safety, quality businesses, strong franchises, ethical management, competitive advantages and long-term earnings potential. Green Lantern also combines macroeconomic analysis with bottom-up stock selection.
The source material reports ₹948.02 crore under discretionary services as of October 24, 2025. Green Lantern has publicly identified strategies including the Growth Fund and Alpha Fund. Because different sources report AUM using different bases, investors should verify the latest disclosure before making comparisons.
For investors researching famous portfolio managers in India, Doshi represents a long-experience, fundamental and quality-oriented approach.
Vikas Khemani – Carnelian Asset Management
Vikas Khemani is the Founder of Carnelian Asset Advisors and Carnelian Asset Management. A Chartered Accountant, CFA and Company Secretary, Khemani spent approximately 17 years at Edelweiss before establishing Carnelian in 2019.
His career included leadership roles in institutional equities, investment banking and equity research. His investment approach focuses on quality businesses, structural shifts, earnings growth, valuation discipline and risk management.
Carnelian’s publicly identified PMS approaches include Capital Compounder, Shift Strategy, Contra Strategy and Bespoke Strategy.
The source material reports more than ₹18,300 crore across Carnelian’s investment platforms as of June 30, 2026. This is a firm-wide figure and may include PMS, AIF and other investment products. It should therefore not be presented as Khemani’s personal PMS AUM.
For investors evaluating best portfolio managers in India, Khemani is particularly relevant for those interested in quality and long-term compounding.
Sunil Singhania – Abakkus
Sunil Singhania is the Founder of Abakkus Asset Manager and a prominent investment professional with approximately 25–30 years of experience in equity research and asset management.
Before founding Abakkus in 2018, Singhania served as CIO–Equities at Reliance Mutual Fund. His professional record includes extensive experience in fundamental equity investing and benchmark-oriented portfolio management.
Abakkus follows a process-driven approach focused on fundamental research, valuation discipline, earnings growth and quality. The firm’s strategies include approaches such as Abakkus All Cap, Emerging Opportunities, Growth and Special Situations.
Public PMS databases cited in the source material reported approximately ₹20,713–₹22,514 crore for Abakkus PMS around 2026. Broader firm-wide numbers can be substantially different because they may include AIFs and other products.
For investors searching for a best PMS portfolio manager with extensive institutional investment experience, Singhania is one of the prominent names to study.
Amit Jeswani – Stallion Asset
Amit Jeswani is Founder and CIO of Stallion Asset and serves as its Principal Officer. He holds a B.A. (Hons.) in Business with Finance and is a CFA and CMT charterholder.
Jeswani began participating in capital markets at an early stage and subsequently developed Stallion Asset from a research-focused business into a PMS platform.
His approach combines fundamental and technical analysis, with an emphasis on high-growth consumer-facing companies, market leadership, management quality, opportunity size and margin of safety.
Stallion’s publicly identified offerings include the Stallion Asset Core Fund and Liquid Fund/STP.
The source material highlights an important data-quality issue: one PMS database reported ₹8,719.86 crore as of July 31, 2026, while an official disclosure cited a significantly lower figure at an earlier date. Investors should therefore verify the latest regulatory disclosure before relying on any particular PMS assets under management figure.
Jigar Mistry – Buoyant Capital
Jigar Mistry is Founder and an investment professional at Buoyant Capital. A Chartered Accountant who completed all three levels of the CFA programme, Mistry previously served as Director of Research at HSBC and has experience with institutions including Kotak Institutional Equities.
His research background spans banking and financial services, metals and mining, utilities and India strategy.
Buoyant follows a fundamental, research-led and sector-agnostic investment process. The strategy focuses on competitive advantages, durable earnings, management quality and attractive long-term risk-adjusted returns.
The source material reports PMS AUM of ₹13,538.59 crore as of July 31, 2026, while another tracker reported ₹12,563 crore across four strategies. The difference illustrates why AUM comparisons should always specify the reporting date and source.
Buoyant’s publicly listed products include Opportunities Strategy, Strategy II, Strategy III, Large Value Fund and Strategy IV.
Vijay Bharadia – Wallfort PMS
Vijay Bharadia is Founder and CIO of Wallfort PMS / Wallfort Fund Management LLP. He has more than two decades of financial-services experience, including exposure to institutional and proprietary fund management.
His approach is bottom-up and sector-agnostic, with a focus on structural growth, durable competitive advantages, earnings visibility and valuation discipline.
A key element of Wallfort’s process is its Four P framework: promoter, product, profitability and price or valuation.
Available database figures cited in the source material put Wallfort PMS AUM at approximately ₹596–₹608 crore as of July 31, 2026.
Wallfort has several publicly listed strategies, including Diversified, Avenue Fund, Ameya Fund, India Contra Equity Fund, KOSH Value Fund and Focus Fund.
For investors comparing leading PMS fund managers, Bharadia is an example of a manager whose process places substantial emphasis on business quality and valuation.
Arpee Jani – Neo Alternative
Arpee Jani is Principal Officer at Neo Alternative Asset Managers. Her professional background includes fixed-income trading, treasury, credit operations and financial research.
Compared with several managers on this list who are widely associated with equity stock-picking frameworks, the available source material does not establish a detailed personal equity investment philosophy for Jani. Therefore, investors should avoid attributing a broader investment style to her without supporting evidence.
Different databases also report materially different Neo AUM figures and numbers of strategies. One tracker reported approximately ₹5,161 crore across 23 strategies, while another reported approximately ₹3,300 crore across 13 strategies with published AUM.
This makes Jani an especially good example of why investors should differentiate between PMS manager experience, firm-level data and an individual manager’s directly attributable track record.
Aditya Sood – InCred Asset Management
Aditya Sood is Fund Manager – Equity at InCred Asset Management. He has approximately 20 years of experience in equity management, including around 18 years in fund management.
Sood founded Vishuddha Capital Management and subsequently joined InCred. He previously headed the investment function of ICICI Prudential PMS, where he managed assets reportedly exceeding ₹4,000 crore.
His investment philosophy emphasises both return of capital and return on capital. Downside protection, fundamental research and avoiding permanent capital loss are central themes.
Public sources identify multiple InCred PMS approaches, including Small & Midcap Portfolio and Multicap Portfolio, alongside liquid and other equity/debt strategies.
One database reported approximately ₹1,300 crore across eight InCred PMS strategies. Since this is database-reported information rather than an individual AUM figure, investors should verify current disclosures.
Prem Khurana – ICICI Prudential AMC
Prem Khurana is Senior Fund Manager – PMS Equity at ICICI Prudential AMC. He has nearly two decades of fundamental sell-side research experience.
Khurana has been recognised in Asiamoney polls as Best Real Estate Analyst for three consecutive years from 2019 to 2021 and has also been highly ranked in infrastructure research.
His expertise covers infrastructure, real estate, construction, project evaluation, earnings forecasting and business fundamentals.
The source material reports ICICI Prudential PMS at approximately ₹29,391 crore across 26 strategies. This is the firm’s PMS AUM and should not be interpreted as Khurana’s personal AUM.
Khurana was specifically appointed portfolio manager for the SMART Strategy with effect from July 3, 2026, while the broader PMS business employs multiple fund managers.
Abhishek Anand – Motilal Oswal AMC
Abhishek Anand is Principal Officer, PMS and Fund Manager at Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company. He has more than 20 years of financial-services and equity-market experience, including approximately a decade as a portfolio manager.
His previous professional experience includes CMIE, Dun & Bradstreet, SBI Capital Markets, Centrum Broking and Centrum Wealth Management.
Motilal Oswal’s investment philosophy is widely associated with the QGLP framework: Quality, Growth, Longevity and Reasonable Price. Anand’s public profile also reflects conviction-led investing supported by fundamental research.
He is associated with the Motilal Oswal Founders Portfolio and the firm’s PMS activities. However, a separate current AUM attributable personally to Anand was not disclosed in the reviewed material.
How to Compare PMS Fund Managers
Investors should evaluate PMS fund managers India 2026 using a consistent framework rather than comparing headline returns alone.
1. Investment Philosophy
Understand how the manager identifies opportunities.
Does the manager follow:
- Growth investing?
- Value investing?
- Quality compounding?
- Special situations?
- Small and mid-cap investing?
- Multi-cap investing?
- Sector rotation?
- A combination of fundamental and technical analysis?
The best strategy is not necessarily the one with the highest historical return. It is the one whose philosophy an investor understands and can remain committed to through different market cycles.
2. PMS Manager Track Record
A PMS manager track record should be studied across multiple market environments.
Look at:
- Since-inception returns
- 5-year returns
- 3-year returns
- Rolling returns
- Performance versus benchmark
- Downside periods
- Maximum drawdown
- Recovery time after drawdowns
- Portfolio turnover
- Concentration
APMI provides investment-approach performance data across multiple periods, which can help investors conduct more meaningful comparisons.
3. PMS Benchmark Returns
A strategy should be evaluated against an appropriate benchmark.
For example, comparing a small-cap-oriented PMS directly with a broad large-cap benchmark can produce a misleading conclusion.
Investors should ask whether the benchmark accurately represents the portfolio’s investment universe and risk characteristics.
4. PMS Maximum Drawdown
Returns tell only one part of the story.
PMS maximum drawdown measures how far a portfolio declined from a previous peak. Two strategies can generate similar long-term returns while exposing investors to dramatically different downside risk.
For HNIs and UHNIs, this can be particularly important because portfolio size makes drawdowns financially meaningful.
5. PMS Risk-Adjusted Returns
Investors should also consider whether the returns generated adequately compensate for the risk taken.
Metrics such as volatility, drawdown, Sharpe ratio and other risk-adjusted measures can provide additional context.
A manager who generates slightly lower returns with significantly lower drawdowns may be more suitable for some investors than a highly aggressive strategy.
Popularity vs Performance: What Investors Should Understand
Popularity is not the same as investment superiority.
A PMS manager can become popular because of:
- Long professional experience
- Strong brand recognition
- Media presence
- Large PMS assets
- Institutional background
- Successful historical periods
- Distinctive investment philosophy
- Strong investor communication
However, none of these factors independently guarantees future returns.
SEBI’s own PMS reporting framework warns that portfolio-manager performance should not automatically be assumed to be comparable across managers because PMS portfolios can be customised and the relationship with the client is contractual.
Therefore, this list of popular PMS fund managers India should be viewed as an educational starting point, not as a recommendation or ranking.
How to Compare and Select Top PMS Fund Managers in India
A practical selection process can include the following steps.
Step 1: Define Your Objective
Decide whether the portfolio is intended for long-term wealth creation, diversification, capital appreciation, downside protection or another objective.
Step 2: Identify Your Risk Profile
Determine how much volatility and drawdown you can tolerate.
Step 3: Study the Strategy
Read the PMS disclosure document, understand the strategy mandate and examine the types of securities the manager can buy.
Step 4: Examine Long-Term Performance
Prioritise multi-year and rolling performance rather than one-year returns.
Step 5: Compare Against the Benchmark
Understand whether the manager has added value relative to an appropriate benchmark.
Step 6: Examine Drawdowns
Ask how the portfolio behaved during difficult market periods.
Step 7: Understand Fees
PMS fees may include fixed fees, performance-linked fees and other applicable costs. SEBI requires portfolio managers to disclose the range of fees charged under various heads, and portfolio-management agreements must specify applicable fees and charges.
Step 8: Assess Key-Person Dependence
Understand who actually makes investment decisions and what happens if that individual leaves.
Step 9: Review Portfolio Construction
Examine concentration, sector exposure, market-cap allocation, cash levels and position sizing.
Step 10: Verify Regulatory and Disclosure Information
Investors should independently verify the latest SEBI and manager disclosures before investing.
Fund Manager and Key-Person Risks in PMS
One of the most overlooked issues when evaluating PMS investment managers India is key-person risk.
If a PMS strategy is strongly dependent on one portfolio manager, the manager’s departure, change in philosophy or reduced involvement can potentially affect the investment process.
Investors should ask:
- Who is the named portfolio manager?
- Who makes the final investment decision?
- Is there an investment committee?
- How deep is the research team?
- What is the succession plan?
- Has the strategy changed after senior personnel changes?
- How long has the current team managed the strategy?
This is especially relevant when assessing PMS manager experience. A manager may have 20 years of industry experience, but investors should determine how much of that experience is directly relevant to the specific strategy being considered.
The same principle applies to AUM. A large PMS business can indicate investor acceptance and operational scale, but higher AUM is not automatically evidence of superior future performance.
Final Takeaway
The search for the best PMS fund managers in India should not begin and end with a return table.
The more useful question is: Which PMS manager and strategy best match your investment objective, risk tolerance and time horizon?
The 10 managers discussed here offer different approaches. Nilesh Doshi is associated with quality and margin-of-safety investing; Vikas Khemani focuses on quality, growth and structural change; Sunil Singhania leads Abakkus with a fundamental, process-driven approach; Amit Jeswani combines growth, momentum and fundamental analysis; Jigar Mistry follows research-led sector-agnostic investing; Vijay Bharadia applies a bottom-up Four P framework; Arpee Jani brings fixed-income and credit-market experience; Aditya Sood emphasises return of capital and return on capital; Prem Khurana brings deep infrastructure and real-estate research expertise; and Abhishek Anand is associated with Motilal Oswal’s quality-growth-oriented framework.
For PMS managers for HNIs and PMS managers for NRIs, the due-diligence process should go further than reputation. Investors should examine the specific strategy, current portfolio, benchmark, rolling returns, maximum drawdown, fees, liquidity, concentration and manager continuity.
Ultimately, learning how to choose a PMS fund manager is less about finding a universally superior name and more about finding a disciplined investment process that fits the investor.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice, a recommendation, solicitation or assurance of returns. PMS investments involve market risk. Investors should review the latest regulatory disclosures, strategy documents, fees, risks and performance information and consult a qualified financial professional before making investment decisions. Historical performance is not indicative of future results.