Nikhil Kamath, India’s celebrated start-up investor and fund manager, is looking to launch more global funds aimed at wealthy investors from the Middle East and other regions, enthused by the surge in interest in his existing international funds by both cash-rich expat Indians and local investors from the Gulf region.
True Beacon, the hedge fund by Kamath, is also planning to seek a portfolio management service (PMS) license on the back of rising non-resident Indian (NRI) interest to invest in the Indian capital market, currently among the best performing globally.
“The Middle East has been a very receptive market for True Beacon, with sustained interest from the NRI and non-NRI investors alike,” Kamath told Arabian Business.
“At True Beacon, we are [currently] working towards launching multiple funds, including a PMS license that will allow us to have more bespoke portfolios for our clients [from the Middle East and other regions], added Kamath, who is the co-founder and chief investment officer of True Beacon and Zerodha, a unicorn retail trading platform.
Kamath, however, did not elaborate on the timelines for the launch of the proposed global funds.
While True Beacon II – the second global fund launched by Kamath in August this year, expected to mop up over $200 million – saw a surge in interest from the NRI community from the UAE, besides the US, initially, it’s now gaining traction among both NRI and non-NRI investors from across regions including Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe and Australia, Kamath revealed.
The school-drop out-turned ace start-up investor also believed that his funds’ philosophy of following a judicious approach towards fund deployment is also another major factor, which is drawing global investors.
“There are a lot of investors who are skeptical about the [current] bull run [in the Indian stock market] and expect a correction. Our fund philosophy has appealed to such a cohort,” Kamath said.
True Beacon II has been investing in India’s largest 200 companies to capture value appreciation, combined with a sovereign-backed debt component to hedge against the rising inflation in the South Asian country.
“We remain fairly conservative in our outlook and do not believe the frothy valuations of stocks today are justified. [Therefore] we continue to dynamically adjust our hedges daily – currently standing at 50 percent – which will protect us against future market downside,” Kamath added.
The investor also believed that this conservative strategy of his funds has resonated with the NRI investors, a fact reflected in his funds and Zerodha attracting a growing number of expat Indian investors each month.
“The NRI segment in our portfolio has been seeing a 10 percent increase on a month-on-month basis,” Kamath revealed, adding that NRIs continued to show a sustained interest in the Indian stock market to diversify their investments.
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