Interview: Ajit Menon
Dalal Street Investment Journal|May 10, 2021
The most important, if not only, factor of success for an asset manager is in having a consistent good performance track record for its investment platform. In this interview, Ajit Menon, CEO, PGIM India MF, highlights the ways of doing so
Interview: Ajit Menon

It has been after almost eight months that we have witnessed inflows into equity mutual funds. Is it due to the new NAV rule applicability enforced from February 2021 or are investors genuinely returning towards equity MFs?

It is unlikely that the phenomenon is due to any new rule. The trend of redemptions and net negative flows has been reducing for over a quarter and it was only a matter of time before the trend naturally extended to positive flows given no other major external risk factor. SIPs have been growing too. Having said that, we don’t think that we can keep projecting forward based on the data so far since this is a difficult time around the world, and particularly in India. The anxiety due to the second wave could lead investors to be more cautious and conservative. This would reflect in their allocation as is natural.

Your equity funds seem to be overweight on the financial and technology sector. Which sectors according to you will be leaders for the future rallies in the equity market?

PGIM MF as a fund house looks for long-term themes which could play out in the Indian economy and aligns portfolios to these themes. We believe the themes which have a long runway to evolve as India moves towards a developed economy are consumption, finance, digitization and healthcare. At any point of time either one or a combination of a few or all the themes will participate in the market to reflect the growth opportunities they present in the Indian economy.

PGIM India Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund is one of the best performers in its category. What led to such an outstanding performance?

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