Alchemy Leaders of Tomorrow AIF
Alchemy PMS | Equity | | AIFIME's View on Alchemy Leaders of Tomorrow AIF
Strategy
Highly flexible strategy
Investment Fund
Alchemy leader of tomorrow can be a good option especially for investors looking for a highly flexible strategy backed by a pedigreed team. While the performance has been good for this particular fund, we do point out that Alchemy had suffered underperformance in their older funds during 2018-20 period, a phenomenon not uncommon amongst managers but would like to point out the same for investors.
Fund's Strategy View
Unlike certain peers who have tightly defined investment strategies, Alchemy has a more flexible approach. This is both good & bad. It allows for the fund manager to pivot strategies in dynamic market conditions, but it leads to a lower level of clarity on the exact nature of likely investments. While the core investment philosophy remains similar to the Alchemy PMS offerings, the AIF includes the potential to invest in pre-IPO opportunities that have the potential to deliver higher upsides (though with a higher level of risk).
Fund Performance
The fund has outperformed peers in the last 5 year trailing returns.
IME's View on Alchemy PMS
View on AMC
Alchemy, backed by strong founders and a seasoned CIO, has shown meaningful performance recovery across strategies. The firm’s consistent investment approach and ability to identify quality businesses are translating again into improved outcomes. With performance momentum returning and its core philosophy intact, Alchemy now merits a higher conviction and a 4-star rating
AMC's Pedigree
Alchemy is a leading broking and PMS provider in India with a highly experienced founding team. However, a SEBI verdict (in Mar-23) against one of their founders in an insider trading case is a cause for concern, although he is not directly involved in the PMS operations.
AMC Team
Alchemy has a strong investment team led by co-founder and CIO Hiren Ved, who brings stability, experience, and respect to the firm.
Investment Philosophy
Alchemy excels in bottom-up stock picking but lacks a clearly defined investment philosophy, allowing flexibility in shifting between investment themes but making it challenging to understand the investment strategy.
Strategy
Alchemy “Leaders of Tomorrow” focuses on identifying macro trends that are driving structural value creation in the economy, particularly the transition from unorganised to organised sectors. The strategy is built around capturing long-term beneficiaries of formalisation and behavioural shifts resulting from regulatory, technological, and financial reforms.
Major Structural Changes in the Economy (2013–17)
- Aadhaar
- Direct Benefit Transfer
- Goods and Services Tax (GST)
- Online Commerce
- Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA)
- Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
- Demonetisation
Impact of Structural Changes
- Increased challenges for unorganised players as the price-to-quality perception gap narrows.
- Changes in consumer behaviour, leading to curtailed demand for discretionary and luxury goods.
- Accelerated financialisation of household savings.
Flexible Investment Approach
The strategy follows a flexible investment approach, allowing the fund management team to adapt positioning as market conditions evolve. The investment process is led by Hiren Ved, supported by Amit and Vikas, both of whom bring significant experience in equity investing, providing continuity and stability to execution.
AMC Background
Alchemy was founded in 1999 by Lashit Sanghvi, Hiren Ved, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, and Ashwin Kedia, a group with over 100 years of collective experience in Indian equities. The investment strategies are actively managed by Hiren Ved, who continues to serve as CIO and primary fund manager, while Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Ashwin Kedia are not involved in day-to-day operations. Alchemy is regarded as one of the strongest bottom-up stock-picking PMS houses in India and has scaled to become one of the largest PMS platforms in the country (ranked among the top four). The continued leadership of Hiren Ved provides long-term stability to the investment team, a critical factor in sustaining performance and organisational growth.
Investment Philosophy
Alchemy relies more on a disciplined and repeatable investment process to identify attractive bottom-up opportunities than on a narrowly defined investment philosophy. The flexibility of this approach allows the fund manager to adapt positioning across market conditions, while remaining anchored to fundamental research and valuation discipline.
Alchemy’s Investment Process – 3I Matrix
- Idea Generation: Tracks a broad universe of ~500 companies, with deep coverage of 100–150 names. Ideas are generated through internal research as well as external inputs such as industry interactions, peer discussions, and sector conferences.
- Investment Process: Managed by the CIO, who retains veto power at multiple stages of research and portfolio construction. Positions are continuously monitored and formally reviewed on a quarterly basis.
- Intervention: Active intervention by the CIO in portfolio sizing, risk management, and exits, based on evolving risk–reward dynamics.
Exits are driven by deterioration in the original investment thesis, adverse risk–reward shifts, or the emergence of superior opportunities elsewhere in the portfolio.
Suitable For
Investors seeking flexible, actively managed equity portfolios with the ability to adapt across market cycles, led by a stable and experienced fund management team.
Trailing Performance
| 1yr | 3yr | 5yr | Since Inception | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alchemy Leaders of Tomorrow AIF | -4.6 | 18.6 | 23 | 15.3 |
| S&P BSE 500 | 4.9 | 14.6 | 17.2 | 12.35 |
| Alpha over Broad Mkt BM | -9.5 | 4 | 5.8 | 3 |
Performance as of: 30-Nov-25 | Inception Date: 03-Jan-18 | Performance are post-fees, pre-taxes. Global funds denominated in USD or fund currency.
Investment team
Hiren Ved | 5-star rated FM
CIO | 35 yrs Experience | 27 yrs at current firm
Past Experience: Prime Securities (Head - Equities), KR Choksey (Head of Research)
Hiren is a very seasoned investment professional, with close to 3 decades of investment experience. He co-founded Alchemy Capital Mgmt in 1999, helping build it into one of the leading PMS's in the country, on the back of long-term stability in the investment management team and strong alpha generation over time.
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