Over the years, he has shuttered his debt market division in 2004 and then his institutional broking business in 2007, before concentrating on the wealth management business and the PMS business. He had applied for a licence three years ago, which has now turned into a reality. Parikh has been looking to start a mutual fund for a long time. I donвЂ™t want HNI clients and grow their money,вЂќ says Parikh. The idea is to make normal investors into high net worth individuals (HNIs). вЂњThe mutual fund will allow all kinds of investors to invest in our scheme. On his part, Parikh has developed a differentiated strategy that he believes might help him carve out a niche in the company of the big boys of the mutual fund industry like HDFC, ICICI and Reliance. Or will they continue to insist on individualised solutions? The moot point is whether his current base of investors-and potential ones-will eventually settle for a one-size-fit-all solution to their investment needs. Yet Parikh will now have to move out of the relatively obscure world of alternative funds (as PMSes are sometimes called) into the hyper-competitive mutual fund industry. He doesnвЂ™t get carried away by market moves,вЂќ says Motilal Oswal, chairman and managing director of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, a leading brokerage. He is a person with strong convictions and is completely research oriented. He is a value investor and a long-term investor and very focussed in investing. Those whoвЂ™ve known him say he should be able to retain most of his investors, who make up the Rs 330 crore corpus that his firm manages. Since ParikhвЂ™s is the first example of a PMS morphing into a mutual fund, it is being watched closely across IndiaвЂ™s equity markets. Most other PMSes, such as ASK run by another marquee money manager Bharat Shah, ask for a minimum threshold of Rs 1 crore from every investor. Parikh has had a simple motto since starting PPFAS: He preferred targeting regular retail investors who aspired to break into the bulge bracket. All other retail investors now need to invest in equity markets through the supposedly safer route of a mutual fund scheme.ДЇor Parikh, that would mean a life-defining change. He could have continued this winning streak, if it werenвЂ™t for the new law that allows only investors with a sizeable corpus-a minimum of Rs 25 lakh-to be part of a PMS. Over the past decade, it has generated a compounded average growth rate (CAGR) of 21.16 percent, beating the 16 percent growth in the Sensex during the same period. And the portfolio management scheme (PMS) he ran, where each individual investor has his own separate account, has had an established track record of delivering consistent and above-average returns. His trademark scepticism and conservatism have positioned him as a responsible and a relatively safe haven for investors. Over the years, several hundreds of wealthy individuals have sought him out for customised advice on where to park their money in the equity markets. And it might also help him deal with his next big challenge as he approaches an important crossroad in life. Years of daily meditation have helped him look a lot younger than most people his age. DonвЂ™t you think I should be more sceptical and conservative about the medicines I take?вЂќ The question may have been directed at the other person in the room: Rajeev Thakkar, his CEO and fund manager at the eponymous brokerage and financial advisory firm, Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services (PPFAS), but it seemed almost rhetorical in nature. I donвЂ™t know what kind of side effects they might be having on my system. вЂњYou know, IвЂ™m thinking of giving up on my cholesterol drugs. On his desk was a DVD of Forest Gump, a thick tome by Ramchandra Guha and a guitar by the side of the table. When we met him a few days later, he clearly had other ideas on his mind. Within the next two months, Parikh also received an in-principle approval for his scheme. After a three-year wait, he got permission from the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to launch his own mutual fund last October. Parikh, of course, may have had a special reason to celebrate. In the normal course of things, it would have been just another birthday for the money manager-cum-broker, who has been active in the Indian stock markets for the past three decades. Has always been honest and committed to his clients. DoesnвЂ™t want to play the game of assets under management. It is expected to attract retail investors, not HNIs.Д«uying businesses rather than stocks. To convert his PMS into an MF that will invest long term in Indian and foreign markets. Used behavioural finance to understand the boom and bust cycles of financial markets. It has given 18 percent returns ever since. Managing a PMS since 1996 with a low ticket size of Rs 5 lakh. A rare money manager who believes in doing the right things business automatically follows

Parag parikh