Our investment approach is explained in detail across the various functions within investment management

We believe that the business should be simple to understand. We generally invest in companies that have strong competitive advantage in their field. Quality businesses have good growth potential with sustainable competitive advantage - brand franchise and pricing power, allowing them to generate free cash flow and provide reasonable return on capital. Our primary focus is on the following aspects

A strong management with a clear vision and focus on the business in which it has strengths, is imperative to our investment decision. We look for companies that are cost-conscious and make continuous investments in technology and business systems. We like to look at aspects such as corporate governance track record, quality of board, compensation policies and most importantly capital allocation policies

Our approach to valuation can be best described as 'Growth at Reasonable Price' or 'GARP'. Investments are made in companies that are growing faster than their peers, but only at a price we consider fair.

By this we mean that the portfolio construction should be such that there is an ideal representation across sectors, economic themes and market capitalization. But this is not by increasing the number of stocks to an unmanageable level. We believe that a well rounded portfolio of 15-20 stocks helps increasing the focus and improves the research quality behind each idea included in the portfolio.

We lay a significant emphasis on characterization of the portfolio. This essentially implies we look at the overall portfolio as a single stock and monitor its overall psychographics such as leverage, RoCE & RoE, earnings growth and critical multiples such as P/E, P/EG, P/BV etc. Depending on the nature of mandate we like to manage the overall psychographics so that it reflects the character that is in sync with the opportunity canvas.

We see liquidity in the portfolio as a residual tool rather than primary source of alpha. To this extent, aggressive cash calls are taken only in exceptional situations or by client's specific request

In order to make portfolio construction scientific and scalable, we devise the portfolio frameworks in terms of market cap, trading liquidity and sectoral concentration as suitable for an investment theme. This ensures that there is an oversight by the senior management on the overall risk quotient of the portfolio even as the portfolio managers use their skills to improve performance within the framework.

As the portfolio achieves a stage of construction, it is constantly monitored by the investment management team to ensure that new ideas and macroeconomic changes are embodied in the portfolio and it is responsive. There are strict internal audits in place to ensure that the review automatically happens at a desirable frequency.