Best equity mutual fund managers 2021: Ranking by ET-Wealth-Morningstar (2024)

For an economy already dragging its feet before the onset of the pandemic last year, the first wave hit like a tempest. The ensuing lockdown and mobility restrictions took a heavy toll on businesses. For investors, it felt like the ground was giving way beneath their feet. But as sudden and debilitating the market crash was, the relentless one-way uptick since March 2020 lows has been equally stunning. In the past 18 months, markets have sped past several intermittent obstacles—initial hiccups around pace of vaccination, overwhelmed healthcare infrastructure amid a crushing second wave, continuing supply chain bottlenecks and more.

Even the most seasoned professionals at asset management companies do not profess to make sense of what has transpired in the past 18-odd months. However, these equity market mavens have drawn on years of experience and kept calm in the face of the storm. In this year’s ET Wealth-Morningstar Fund Manager Rankings, we shine the spotlight on a few battle-hardened commanders who have skillfully negotiated the onslaught. These individuals rank among the top money managers for helping investors build wealth with a firm eye on risk. Our study looks at the five-year track record of equity mutual fund schemes and identifies the best performers across three distinct categories on the basis of risk-adjusted returns.

A closer look at the handiwork of these achievers reveals a few common threads. Sticking to core investing philosophy at all times comes front and center for generating sustainable long-term wealth. Many have also placed firm emphasis on limiting drawdowns rather than chasing immediate glory by riding momentum. At the same time, some have acknowledged changing circ*mstances and showed a willingness to adapt to new realities with deft realignments. Read on to know how the gatekeepers at mass-market equity mutual funds have managed to grow the wealth pie for investors through the market ups and downs.

The top wealth creators of 2021
Large cap funds

• Shreyash Devalkar, Axis Mutual Fund
• Shridatta Bhandwaldar, Canara Robeco Mutual Fund
• Gaurav Misra, Mirae Asset Global Investments
• Swati Kulkarni UTI Mutual Fund
• Harish Krishnan, Kotak Mutual Fund

Note: Shreyash Devalkar switched from BNP Paribas MF to Axis MF during the period under consideration.

Also Read: Best large cap mutual fund managers 2021

Multi cap funds

• Rajeev Thakkar, Parag Parikh Mutual Fund
• Neelesh Surana, Mirae Asset Global Investments
• Ajay Tyagi, UTI Mutual Fund
• Vinay Paharia, Union Mutual Fund
• R. Srinivasan, SBI Mutual Fund

Note: Vinay Paharia switched from Invesco MF to Union MF during the period under consideration.

Also Read: Best multi-cap mutual fund managers 2021

Small cap & Mid cap funds

• Shreyash Devalkar, Axis Mutual Fund
• R. Srinivasan, SBI Mutual Fund
• Anupam Tiwari, Axis Mutual Fund
• Harshad Patwardhan, Edelweiss Mutual Fund
• Pankaj Tibrewal, Kotak Mutual Fund

Note: Shreyash Devalkar switched from BNP Paribas MF to Axis MF during the period under consideration.

Also Read: Best mid- and small-cap mutual fund managers 2021

How we ranked the managers
Universe of funds
Our study is restricted to open ended, actively managed, diversified equity funds segregated into three distinct categories— large-cap, multi-cap (includes flexi-cap, large-and-mid cap, focused, value and ELSS) and mid-/small-cap— as per the Morningstar India classification. Schemes with a corpus of at least Rs 200 crore were considered. No index, thematic, sector or balanced funds were considered for evaluation.

Time period
The study is based on the performance of funds managed between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2021.

Experience & AUM criteria
Only funds managed continuously for the five-year period under study were considered, with the exception of fund managers who have up to 4-month gaps between two stints. Track record only for completed months was considered for this analysis. For a fund to qualify, the fund manager needed a minimum two-year track record with that fund as a lead manager. The study was restricted to fund managers cumulatively managing an AUM of at least Rs 500 crore, across all qualifying funds. Only primary fund manager is considered as a manager for the fund in this analysis.

Risk and returns
After shortlisting the fund managers, the aggregate returns generated by each fund manager were calculated over the five-year period for all the funds managed by him which had made the cut. The returns were then adjusted for risk. This is to account for the degree of risk taken by the fund manager to generate the return. To get the risk-adjusted score, the asset-weighted monthly returns of all the funds satisfying the above-mentioned criteria were calculated. Weighing scheme performance by its corpus size helps give due importance to the size of each fund. Then, the annualised geometric mean for the five-year period was calculated to arrive at the annualised five-year returns. Further, the annualised standard deviation of the monthly asset-weighted returns was calculated. The final risk-adjusted return was calculated by deducting the riskfree return—return of FBIL MIBOR Overnight—from the annualised geometric returns generated by each fund manager, and dividing these by the respective standard deviation.

Also Read: Mutual fund managers who have delivered good risk-adjusted return over the long run

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