Funds managed
| Fund name | Asset Class | License |
| Aditya Birla Sun Life AIF Trust I | Hedge fund | SEBI AIF Cat 3 |
Below is the link where they have an introduction about Alternative Investment (Note- There is nothing mentioned about the AIF CAT 3 fund)
About the AMC
- Established in 1994, Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, is co-sponsored by Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL) and Sun Life (India) AMC Investments Inc.
- Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL) is the holding company for the financial services
Businesses of the Aditya Birla Group.
- ABCL’s subsidiaries have a strong presence across Protecting, Investing and Financing solutions, ABCL is a universal financial solutions group catering to diverse needs of its customers across their life stages. Powered by more than 20,000 employees, the subsidiaries of ABCL have a nationwide reach with 850+ branches and more than 2,00,000 agents / channel partners and several bank partners.
- As of December 31st, 2019, Aditya Birla Capital Limited manages aggregate assets under management over Rs. 3000 billion and has a consolidated lending book of Rs. 601 billion, through its subsidiaries and joint ventures.
- Aditya Birla Capital Limited is a part of the Aditya Birla Group, a US$ 48.3 billion Indian multinational, in the league of Fortune 500. Anchored by an extraordinary force of over 120,000 employees, belonging to 42 nationalities, the Aditya Birla Group operates in 36 countries across the globe.
- Aditya Birla Capital, through its subsidiaries and joint ventures, manages aggregate assets worth Rs. 2,613 billion and has a lending book of Rs. 411 billion as of June 30th, 2017.
- Key staff: (Source – http://portal.amfiindia.com/spages/sai3.pdf , Page-19)
- Mr A. Balasubramanian Chief Executive Officer (CEO) –
- Educational Qualifications – B.Sc (Mathematics), Diploma in Financial Management, AMP from IIM, Bangalore, MBA from GlobalNxt University, Malaysia, Advanced Management Programme from Harvard University.
- Business Experience -He is the CEO for Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited and has been with the organization since 1994. He also oversees Alternate Investment Funds, Real Estate, PMS and global mandates through its subsidiary company in Singapore and Dubai. Previously worked with GIC Mutual Fund. He has an overall experience of over 28 years in the Mutual Fund Industry. Currently, he is on the Board of Governors of SEBI established National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM). He also plays an active role in AMFI as a Board of Director. He has also held the position of Chairman of AMFI for 2 years from 2016-2018.
Below details Source- PMS Bazaar – https://pmsbazaar.com/AMC/Aditya-Birla-Capital )
- Vishal Gajwani (Head- Alternative Investments (Equity)) – He is CFA charterholder and has 11 years of experience in equity research and portfolio management. Earlier he was working with Reliance Portfolio Management Services as an Assistant Fund Manager. He is a Gold Medalist Chartered Accountant (ICAI, India) and holds a Masters degree in Commerce from M. S. University of Baroda.
- Natasha Lulla (Fund Manager – Alternative Investments (Equity)) – Natasha was working with Goldman Sachs as an equity analyst before joining Birla Sunlife PMS. She graduated in economics from Lady Shri Ram College and was also awarded for achieving the first rank.
Investment Philosophy (for firm)
Source: https://mutualfund.adityabirlacapital.com/-/media/bsl/files/pms-forms/disclosure-document-june-2018.pdf (Page-12)
Non-Discretionary Equity Portfolio:
- Investment Objective: The primary objective of the Fund is to generate long term capital appreciation from a portfolio of underlying holdings across listed and unlisted companies. The underlying holdings will be selected in accordance with research capabilities of ABSLAMC and the investor’s discretion & guidelines.
Investment Strategy:
- ABSLAMC shall take investors’ view & guidance in documented template to be established for each investor’s’ portfolio. These inputs will clarify on security level, instrument level, industry level, and asset class level preferences. The extent of investors’ involvement in investment decision shall also be documented. These inputs shall only be the starting point for the investment process and shall be supplemented with ABSLAMC’s research process and deal execution platform. The company / security for being part of final universe shall have to satisfy the various parameters as per ABSLAMC research.
- ABSLAMC may, from time to time, review and modify the research strategy if such changes are considered to be in the best interests of the investors and if market conditions warrant it. Investments in securities and instruments not specifically mentioned earlier may also be made, provided they are permitted by SEBI/RBI and approved by the Trustee.
Note: Other details like recommended investment horizon, redemption and risk factors can be found in the link provided above.
Media
- Title – Mr.Vishal Gajwani – Aditya Birla “Perspective of the Portfolio Managers & strategies on COVID-19, PMS Bazaar-YouTube, 22 Apr 2020
Summary – Talks about the broader economic slowdown and loosening monetary policy – the impact of COVID. I think it is mostly short term, so did not watch the full video.
- Title – PMS & AIF Summit 2.0 Voice – Mr Vishal Gajwani – Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management, PMS Bazaar-YouTube, 25 Jan 2020
Summary – It is a very short video of Vishal Gajwani where he is promoting PMS Bazaar
- Title – Natasha Lulla, Fund Mgr – Alternate Investments – Equity, ABSLAMC Ltd, PMS Insights – December 2018, PMS Bazaar-YouTube, Dec 2018
Summary – Short term changes in the credit market, PMS results. I think it is mostly short term discussion.
- Title – Champions Panel – PMS & AIF SUMMIT 2018, PMS Bazaar-YouTube, Nov 14 2018
Summary – I have summarized the discussion in Q&A format below
Q- 4 pillars of Birla’s Investment Approach?
A – Vishal starts with the central aspect of their investment philosophy that they believe investing is a mixture of Science and Art. Investing is a science of exclusion and an Art of inclusion. We use filters like ROE, Leverage and Piotroski Score to select stocks from the investment universe. From an Art perspective, human judgment is involved e.g. management quality, the sustainability of business moats. Optimum mix of science and art is required.
Talking about 4 pillars- 2 are top-down and 2 are bottom-up approach.
- In top-down approach, idea is to select the right sectors/industry. About 61 industries in India only about 15 of them are wealth creators.
- In top-down, they select right stocks for the portfolio at the right valuation
Piotroski Score – Explained by Vishal
It is a screener to select stocks that will outperform the market (Consistent 10% CAGR over longer time frames). 9 financial ratios are used to select the right stocks. The first 4 ratio’s look at the quality of financials and capital preservation and the next 5 looks at capital appreciation.
They use P-Score as a starting tool for research.
- Learn more about Piotroski Score here – https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/piotroski-score.asp
There’s also a little discussion on short –medium term view where Vishal is suggesting to invest in small caps for 3 or more years.
- Title – Natasha Lulla, Fund Manager – Alternate Investments – Equity, PMS Insights – October 2018, PMS Bazaar-YouTube, Oct 2018
Summary – I think this video also talks about short term view.
Analyst questions
- To start screening you use Piotroski score to select stocks and most ratios used in the Piotroski Score is a value filter. Does that mean your investment approach is focused on value investing? (Note: This is mentioned in one the panel discussion conducted by PMS Bazaar on 14 Nov 2018- included in Media Section)
- There are other sub-parts in value approach of investing like Deep Value or Cigar Bud approach? Do you follow any of those?
- What investment philosophy do you follow for AIF CAT 3 fund? Is it a Top-down or Bottom-up approach of investing?
- How do you differentiate yourself from other alternative funds available?
Prepared by – Sonal Narwani
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