We are one of the oldest small cap focused PMS in India with a 10+ year track record of generating top-decile long term returns and have emerged as a preferred investment manager for HNIs and Family Offices. Generating superior risk adjusted long term returns from small/mid cap companies requires application of the same rigor and discipline as in private equity investing. We aim to capitalize on opportunities with non-linear triggers for business and earnings momentum leading to alpha generation.
Our non-consensus approach entails our portfolio holdings (~15 stocks) and holding period (~5 year) differ from institutions such as mutual funds where investment decisions may be influenced by the composition of respective benchmark indices. We consciously avoid momentum stocks and needless churn in the portfolio. Our team consists of seasoned professionals from private and public markets with deep sectoral expertise. Our non-hierarchical team structure fosters open, intelligent debate on our investment ideas and allows us to remain nimble in our thinking.
We aim to deliver long term wealth creation by taking risk calibrated decisions and staying invested through the life cycle of businesses backed by high conviction.
Our unique Private Equity Approach constantly nudges us to look beyond past numbers and anticipate the future of a target company overarched by positive industry or sector tailwinds.
We are one of the oldest small cap focused PMS in India with a 10+ year track record of generating top-decile long term returns and have emerged as a preferred investment manager for HNIs and Family Offices. Generating superior risk adjusted long term returns from small/mid cap companies requires application of the same rigor and discipline as in private equity investing. We aim to capitalize on opportunities with non-linear triggers for business and earnings momentum leading to alpha generation.
Our non-consensus approach entails our portfolio holdings (~15 stocks) and holding period (~5 year) differ from institutions such as mutual funds where investment decisions may be influenced by the composition of respective benchmark indices. We consciously avoid momentum stocks and needless churn in the portfolio. Our team consists of seasoned professionals from private and public markets with deep sectoral expertise. Our non-hierarchical team structure fosters open, intelligent debate on our investment ideas and allows us to remain nimble in our thinking.
We aim to deliver long term wealth creation by taking risk calibrated decisions and staying invested through the life cycle of businesses backed by high conviction.
Our unique Private Equity Approach constantly nudges us to look beyond past numbers and anticipate the future of a target company overarched by positive industry or sector tailwinds.
Investing for
the
Long
Term
In our view, investing for the long-term is the only consistent way to generate a compounding marvel. The price of an equity investment can fluctuate drastically in the short-term but converges with its fair value over the long term. We invest with a ~5-year horizon and at times have stayed invested for even longer.
Nuanced Industry
Specific
Expertise
Our conviction to remain invested for the long term comes from the nuanced industry specific expertise that our investment team has built over the years. We go beyond desk research to conduct on the ground channel checks with various stakeholders of a target business. Meeting with company management, peer companies, distributors, industry experts and visiting factories and work sites are part of the research process that helps us build conviction. We stay away from companies with poor governance or those indulging in ‘creative’ accounting.
Capturing the
Discovery Premium
One determinant of our superior investment performance is our focus on catching an investment thesis early in its life-cycle. Investing early helps us buy at reasonable valuations which also enhances the potential return. We generate alpha by capitalizing on non-linear triggers of business and earnings growth.
Growth
at
Reasonable
Valuations
We buy solid businesses that exhibit multi-year structural growth trends (ideally aided by macro or policy tailwinds) run by clean, competent managements and available at a reasonable valuation.
Price Guard
Rail Framework
We strongly believe the most effective risk mitigant in small/mid cap investing is to not overpay to buy even a good business. We employ our price guard rail framework to assign entry and exit prices for every investment we approve. We do not run model portfolios as that can compel a fund manager to buy stocks at unfavourable valuations.
Portfolio
Construction
We build client portfolios with ~15 stocks – an optimal number - bringing the benefits of diversification while minimising concentration risk. We limit our exposure at a company and sector level and prudently book profits from time to time as our investment theses play out.
Key Investment
Risks
The biggest risk in equity investing is the permanent loss of capital. It is our endeavour at all times to keep one eye on growth and the other on capital preservation. Our disciplined private equity approach has helped us immensely in buying quality businesses and avoiding pitfalls. One risk we cannot avoid is market volatility and resultant temporary drawdowns. However, we have been able to mitigate the risk of ‘significant drawdowns’ in our client portfolios by adhering to our price guard rail framework. Volatility also offers us the ability to exploit the judgmental biases and other behavioural weaknesses of market participants leading to unravelling of attractive investment opportunities from time to time.
We seek clients who have the temperament to endure market volatility and stay invested for the long term (5+ years) with an endeavour to earn superior returns.
Investing for
the
Long
Term
In our view, investing for the long-term is the only consistent way to generate a compounding marvel. The price of an equity investment can fluctuate drastically in the short-term but converges with its fair value over the long term. We invest with a ~5-year horizon and at times have stayed invested for even longer.
Our conviction to remain invested for the long term comes from the nuanced industry specific expertise that our investment team has built over the years. We go beyond desk research to conduct on the ground channel checks with various stakeholders of a target business. Meeting with company management, peer companies, distributors, industry experts and visiting factories and work sites are part of the research process that helps us build conviction. We stay away from companies with poor governance or those indulging in ‘creative’ accounting.
Nuanced Industry
Specific
Expertise
Capturing the
Discovery
Premium
One determinant of our superior investment performance is our focus on catching an investment thesis early in its life-cycle. Investing early helps us buy at reasonable valuations which also enhances the potential return. We generate alpha by capitalizing on non-linear triggers of business and earnings growth.
We buy solid businesses that exhibit multi-year structural growth trends (ideally aided by macro or policy tailwinds) run by clean, competent managements and available at a reasonable valuation.
Growth
at
Reasonable
Valuations
Price
Guard
Rail
Framework
We strongly believe the most effective risk mitigant in small/mid cap investing is to not overpay to buy even a good business. We employ our price guard rail framework to assign entry and exit prices for every investment we approve. We do not run model portfolios as that can compel a fund manager to buy stocks at unfavourable valuations.
We build client portfolios with ~15 stocks – an optimal number - bringing the benefits of diversification while minimising concentration risk. We limit our exposure at a company and sector level and prudently book profits from time to time as our investment theses play out.
Portfolio
Construction
Key
Investment
Risks
The biggest risk in equity investing is the permanent loss of capital. It is our endeavour at all times to keep one eye on growth and the other on capital preservation. Our disciplined private equity approach has helped us immensely in buying quality businesses and avoiding pitfalls. One risk we cannot avoid is market volatility and resultant temporary drawdowns. However, we have been able to mitigate the risk of ‘significant drawdowns’ in our client portfolios by adhering to our price guard rail framework. Volatility also offers us the ability to exploit the judgmental biases and other behavioural weaknesses of market participants leading to unravelling of attractive investment opportunities from time to time.
We seek clients who have the temperament to endure market volatility and stay invested for the long term (5+ years) with an endeavour to earn superior returns.
Aurum small cap opportunities
Flagship small cap strategy aims to generate alpha over medium to long term.
Aurum multiplier portfolio
Multicap strategy blends the stability of large caps with superior returns of mid and small caps.
Aurum SME Fund I
Focuses on growth oriented small businesses listed or bound for listing on the SME exchange.
Sandeep Daga
Founder, MD & CIO
As a Founder, Sandeep provides strategic leadership to the group and actively manages the Asset Management business as its MD & CIO. He has over three decades of experience primarily in public and private equity investing in addition to spending early years of his career in corporate finance. Sandeep has been an astute investor known for spotting investment trends and high performing companies early on.
Prior to founding Nine Rivers Capital, Sandeep was a Partner at Frontline Ventures, an India-centric PE firm focussed on making mid-market minority growth investments. He began his investing career in the late nineties with ICICI Ventures as Head of B2B Investments. During his private equity career, Sandeep occupied board positions on several high growth companies.
Sandeep holds an MBA in Finance from NMIMS and is a Electronics Engineer from Amravati University.
Sandhya Kabra
Executive Director & CFO
Sandhya is a result driven finance professional with over 23 years of industry experience in leading banking and financial services companies covering financial planning and control, MIS, forecasting, capital raising, performance management, ERP implementation, internal process streamlining and more.
Prior to Nine Rivers Capital, Sandhya was partner at Lakshya Consulting. She has also worked with Tata Capital, ICICI Bank and Aditya Birla Finance.
Sandhya is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Vinay Khatu
President
Vinay has 30 years of transactional expertise with more than 40 successful transactions encompassing PE, domestic and international M&A, and corporate finance for both established and startup businesses.
After being a part of the Corporate Advisory team for 9 years, he has recently moved to head the Alternate Investments Team at NRC.
He began his investment banking career with JM Financial in Mumbai before moving on as a co-founding partner at Cipher Capital, a PE and M&A focused investment bank and lead their technology practice. He later founded Alpheas Advisors, a boutique advisory firm that was integrated into NRC's corporate advisory arm.
Vinay has an MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management and is a Mechanical Engineer from Pune University.
Pragati Khadse
Senior Portfolio Manager
Pragati has over 20 years of public market experience in equity research across multiple sectors in India and Asia. She complements the company’s research capabilities in evaluating investment opportunities in public markets.
Starting her career at SBI Mutual Fund covering the auto sector, Pragati went on to become Lead Analyst at IIFL, where she tracked the consumer, retail, and hospitality sectors. She has also worked at Citi, where she covered the consumer and media sectors. Prior to that, at JP Morgan Chase, she was part of the Asian technology hardware team.
Pragati holds an MBA in Finance from IIM, Calcutta, and is an engineering graduate from Amravati University.
Kunal Jadhwani
Vice President – Research
Kunal brings over 14 years of equity research experience across multiple sectors as an Analyst and Fund Manager at Motilal Oswal AMC and ENAM Family Office. He also had a brief stint as entrepreneur and seeded a consumer brand.
Kunal is a Management Graduate from Mumbai University.
Kunal Sabnis CFA
Portfolio Manager
Kunal has over 15 years of experience in financial markets and has spent more than a decade in Equities in buy side roles. After a brief stint with ARCIL (an Asset Reconstruction Company) valuing non-performing loans, Kunal moved to a domestic brokerage house as an analyst tracking Banks and NBFCs. He spent 8 years with VEC Investments, an Alternative Investment Fund, tracking companies across multiple sectors with BFSI as a core specialisation.
Kunal holds CFA Charter from CFA Institute, USA and MBA in Finance from Mumbai University.
Kavita Singh
Vice President – Sales
Kavita brings over 20 years of experience in financial services primarily in sales & distribution of financial products. Prior to Nine Rivers Capital, she worked as Head of Institutional Sales, Mumbai with DWS Investments (part of Deutsche Asset Management).
Previously she has also worked with BOI AXA Investment Managers and CapVeda Capital in senior sales roles. She began her career at Stratcap Securities, a boutique Corporate Advisory firm and worked out of their offices at NCR, Kolkata and Mumbai across various divisions.
Kavita is an MBA in Finance from University of Lucknow.
Rahil Merchant
Vice President – Research
Rahil brings over 7 years of buy-side experience in Indian capital markets. Commencing his career as an Associate in the Institutional advisory team at Mata Securities, Rahil served as RM to several large corporates & UHNIs. Prior to joining NRC, he spent 5+ years at Pathpioneer Advisors family office, tracking multiple sectors with a special focus on ‘scuttlebutt’ style of investing. A tech enthusiast, Rahil actively covers the IT/Internet sector (amongst others) and enjoys staying on top of all things tech-related.
Rahil graduated from H.R. College of Commerce & Economics and holds a Master’s in Commerce from University of Mumbai.
Rakesh Wadhwani
Senior Analyst
Rakesh brings over 6 years of buy-side experience in Indian capital markets. Over the years he has covered various sectors like Consumer Durable, Real Estate, Building Material Supplier (BMS), Consumer Discretionary and Retail with focus on Mid & Small Cap Space. Prior to joining NRC, he spent 2+ years at Monarch AIF, tracking multiple sectors like Consumer Durable, EMS, Real Estate & Building Materials.
Rakesh has done his MBA (Finance) from IBS (Hyderabad).
Mustafa Arif
Research Analyst
Mustafa brings over 5 years of experience in macroeconomic research covering Australia and SE Asia and has recently switched over to Indian equities. Prior to joining NRC, he spent time at ANZ Bank and Tata Sons.
Mustafa holds a PGD in Economics from Meghnad Desai Academy and a Bachelors in Economics and Politics from Oberlin College.
Naman Bhansali
Research Analyst
Naman brings over three years of experience as an equity research analyst during which time he has honed his ability to thoroughly understand business models and identify earnings accretive opportunities. Prior to joining NRC, he served as an Analyst at Perpetuity Ventures, focusing on the Healthcare sector and previously he worked as a Data Research Analyst at Morningstar India.
He is a CFA Charterholder and holds a BBA degree with a specialization in Finance.
Narayan Nimkar
Head of Dealing and Operations
Narayan has over 32 years of experience in dealing in the Indian stock market including 17 years of experience in the buy side. Prior to NRC, Narayan has worked as an AVP (Fund Equity Dealer) in ICICI Prudential and PGIM India mutual funds and handled Mumbai operations at Cholamandalam Securities Limited.
Narayan has completed PGPMS from Welingkar’s Institute and B.A. From Wilson College, Mumbai University.
Roshni Vaid
Manager - Admin & HR
Roshni is a part of NRC team since its inception in late 2007.
She brings over 28 years of experience in Administration, HR and CRM.
Previously, she has spent the first five years of her career in Sales at Godrej Appliances and then transitioned to managing Admin and HR with Frontline Ventures, a PE firm.
Roshni is a Science graduate from Jai Hind College, Mumbai University.
All clients have an option to invest in the Nine Rivers Capital PMS directly, without the intermediation of persons engaged in distribution services.
Aurum small cap opportunities
Flagship small cap strategy aims to generate alpha over medium to long term.
Aurum multiplier portfolio
Multicap strategy blends the stability of large caps with superior returns of mid and small caps.
Aurum SME Fund I
Focuses on growth oriented small businesses listed or bound for listing on the SME exchange.
As a Founder, Sandeep provides strategic leadership to the group and actively manages the Asset Management business as its MD & CIO. He has over three decades of experience primarily in public and private equity investing in addition to spending early years of his career in corporate finance. Sandeep has been an astute investor known for spotting investment trends and high performing companies early on.
Prior to founding Nine Rivers Capital, Sandeep was a Partner at Frontline Ventures, an India-centric PE firm focussed on making mid-market minority growth investments. He began his investing career in the late nineties with ICICI Ventures as Head of B2B Investments. During his private equity career, Sandeep occupied board positions on several high growth companies.
Sandeep holds an MBA in Finance from NMIMS and is a Electronics Engineer from Amravati University.
Sandeep Daga
Founder, MD & CIO
Sandhya is a result driven finance professional with over 23 years of industry experience in leading banking and financial services companies covering financial planning and control, MIS, forecasting, capital raising, performance management, ERP implementation, internal process streamlining and more.
Prior to Nine Rivers Capital, Sandhya was partner at Lakshya Consulting. She has also worked with Tata Capital, ICICI Bank and Aditya Birla Finance.
Sandhya is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Sandhya Kabra
Executive Director & CFO
Vinay has 30 years of transactional expertise with more than 40 successful transactions encompassing PE, domestic and international M&A, and corporate finance for both established and startup businesses.
After being a part of the Corporate Advisory team for 9 years, he has recently moved to head the Alternate Investments Team at NRC.
He began his investment banking career with JM Financial in Mumbai before moving on as a co-founding partner at Cipher Capital, a PE and M&A focused investment bank and lead their technology practice. He later founded Alpheas Advisors, a boutique advisory firm that was integrated into NRC's corporate advisory arm.
Vinay has an MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management and is a Mechanical Engineer from Pune University.
Vinay Khatu
President
Pragati has over 20 years of public market experience in equity research across multiple sectors in India and Asia. She complements the company’s research capabilities in evaluating investment opportunities in public markets.
Starting her career at SBI Mutual Fund covering the auto sector, Pragati went on to become Lead Analyst at IIFL, where she tracked the consumer, retail, and hospitality sectors. She has also worked at Citi, where she covered the consumer and media sectors. Prior to that, at JP Morgan Chase, she was part of the Asian technology hardware team.
Pragati holds an MBA in Finance from IIM, Calcutta, and is an engineering graduate from Amravati University.
Pragati Khadse
Senior Portfolio Manager
Kunal has over 15 years of experience in financial markets and has spent more than a decade in Equities in buy side roles. After a brief stint with ARCIL (an Asset Reconstruction Company) valuing non-performing loans, Kunal moved to a domestic brokerage house as an analyst tracking Banks and NBFCs. He spent 8 years with VEC Investments, an Alternative Investment Fund, tracking companies across multiple sectors with BFSI as a core specialisation.
Kunal holds CFA Charter from CFA Institute, USA and MBA in Finance from Mumbai University.
Kunal Sabnis CFA
Portfolio Manager
Kunal brings over 14 years of equity research experience across multiple sectors as an Analyst and Fund Manager at Motilal Oswal AMC and ENAM Family Office. He also had a brief stint as entrepreneur and seeded a consumer brand.
Kunal is a Management Graduate from Mumbai University.
Kunal Jadhwani
Vice President – Research
Kavita brings over 20 years of experience in financial services primarily in sales & distribution of financial products. Prior to Nine Rivers Capital, she worked as Head of Institutional Sales, Mumbai with DWS Investments (part of Deutsche Asset Management).
Previously she has also worked with BOI AXA Investment Managers and CapVeda Capital in senior sales roles. She began her career at Stratcap Securities, a boutique Corporate Advisory firm and worked out of their offices at NCR, Kolkata and Mumbai across various divisions.
Kavita is an MBA in Finance from University of Lucknow.
Kavita Singh
Vice President – Sales
Rahil brings over 7 years of buy-side experience in Indian capital markets. Commencing his career as an Associate in the Institutional advisory team at Mata Securities, Rahil served as RM to several large corporates & UHNIs. Prior to joining NRC, he spent 5+ years at Pathpioneer Advisors family office, tracking multiple sectors with a special focus on ‘scuttlebutt’ style of investing. A tech enthusiast, Rahil actively covers the IT/Internet sector (amongst others) and enjoys staying on top of all things tech-related.
Rahil graduated from H.R. College of Commerce & Economics and holds a Master’s in Commerce from University of Mumbai.
Rahil Merchant
Vice President – Research
Rakesh brings over 6 years of buy-side experience in Indian capital markets. Over the years he has covered various sectors like Consumer Durable, Real Estate, Building Material Supplier (BMS), Consumer Discretionary and Retail with focus on Mid & Small Cap Space. Prior to joining NRC, he spent 2+ years at Monarch AIF, tracking multiple sectors like Consumer Durable, EMS, Real Estate & Building Materials.
Rakesh has done his MBA (Finance) from IBS (Hyderabad).
Rakesh Wadhwani
Senior Analyst
Mustafa brings over 5 years of experience in macroeconomic research covering Australia and SE Asia and has recently switched over to Indian equities. Prior to joining NRC, he spent time at ANZ Bank and Tata Sons.
Mustafa holds a PGD in Economics from Meghnad Desai Academy and a Bachelors in Economics and Politics from Oberlin College.
Mustafa Arif
Research Analyst
Naman brings over three years of experience as an equity research analyst during which time he has honed his ability to thoroughly understand business models and identify earnings accretive opportunities. Prior to joining NRC, he served as an Analyst at Perpetuity Ventures, focusing on the Healthcare sector and previously he worked as a Data Research Analyst at Morningstar India.
He is a CFA Charterholder and holds a BBA degree with a specialization in Finance.
Naman Bhansali
Research Analyst
Narayan has over 32 years of experience in dealing in the Indian stock market including 17 years of experience in the buy side. Prior to NRC, Narayan has worked as an AVP (Fund Equity Dealer) in ICICI Prudential and PGIM India mutual funds and handled Mumbai operations at Cholamandalam Securities Limited.
Narayan has completed PGPMS from Welingkar’s Institute and B.A. From Wilson College, Mumbai University.
Narayan Nimkar
Head of Dealing and Operations
Roshni is a part of NRC team since its inception in late 2007.
She brings over 28 years of experience in Administration, HR and CRM.
Previously, she has spent the first five years of her career in Sales at Godrej Appliances and then transitioned to managing Admin and HR with Frontline Ventures, a PE firm.
Roshni is a Science graduate from Jai Hind College, Mumbai University.
Roshni Vaid
Manager - Admin & HR
All clients have an option to invest in the Nine Rivers Capital PMS directly, without the intermediation of persons engaged in distribution services.
