ASK Growth

Investment Philosophy

ASK Growth is focused on investing in well-established companies that operate within large and scalable opportunity sets, while maintaining high standards of earnings growth, business quality, and management capability. The strategy follows ASK’s core philosophy of prioritising capital protection first, followed by capital appreciation, by investing in high-quality businesses with sustained long-term growth prospects at reasonable valuations. Emphasis is placed on the certainty and consistency of earnings rather than chasing higher but volatile growth, reflecting a disciplined GARP (Growth at the Right Price) approach.

Core Investment Attributes

• Size of Opportunity: Evaluation of the size of the opportunity relative to the company’s scale, including market dominance, resilience, and liquidity.
• Business Quality: Focus on high-quality businesses with superior ROCE, strong and sustainable competitive moats, and long-term durability.
• Earnings Growth: Assessment of the quantum, consistency, durability, and compounding ability of earnings growth, with preference for predictable and sustained growth.
• Valuation Discipline: Investments made with a favourable price–value gap and an adequate margin of safety.
• Management Quality: High standards of management integrity, execution, and capital allocation treated as a constant requirement.

Investment Process

• Market Capitalisation Screen: Initial universe of the top 500 companies by market capitalisation.
• Profitability Filter: Narrowing to ~299 companies with profit before tax exceeding ₹200 crore over the trailing four quarters.
• Management Quality Assessment: Evaluation of management integrity, vision, execution capability, capital allocation, and capital distribution reduces the universe to ~150 companies.
• Quality and Growth Criteria: Further filtering to ~59 companies with minimum ROCE of 25% and at least 15% earnings growth visibility over the next 3–5 years.
• Final Portfolio Construction: A concentrated portfolio of 20–25 stocks with an optimal blend of quality, growth, and valuation discipline, and a minimum margin of safety of 15%.

PMS Background

ASK is one of the oldest and largest PMS houses in India, having commenced operations in 1983 under the leadership of Asit Koticha. The firm has a singular focus on discretionary listed Indian equity mandates and places strong emphasis on mindset and philosophy alignment with clients. Over the years, ASK has built a reputation for disciplined execution, supported by a stable, in-house research team and a clearly defined investment process. Fund managers are typically groomed internally, ensuring continuity and consistency in philosophy and decision-making.

Investment Philosophy

The investment philosophy is anchored in a FOCUS-driven framework designed to identify high-quality businesses capable of generating sustainable long-term wealth across market cycles. The approach combines fundamental analysis, assessment of structural growth opportunities, cycle awareness, competitive strength, and valuation discipline to deliver consistent, risk-adjusted outcomes while protecting capital.

• Fundamentals: Emphasis on strong balance sheets, healthy cash flows, and consistent profitability. Focus on business quality, resilience across cycles, and disciplined capital allocation, with priority given to sustainability of returns rather than short-term earnings volatility.
• Opportunity Size & Scalability: Preference for businesses operating in large and expanding opportunity sets, supported by structural growth tailwinds and favourable industry dynamics. Focus on scalability and long-term demand visibility without excessive reliance on leverage.
• Cycles & Capital Allocation: Recognition that both markets and businesses move through cycles. Active evaluation of cycle positioning, with emphasis on management prudence during upcycles and discipline during downturns. Willingness to invest in cyclical recoveries or structural improvements where risk–reward is favourable.
• Unmatched Moats: Focus on companies with durable competitive advantages such as brand leadership, economies of scale, network effects, technology edge, or regulatory protection. Strong moats support pricing power, margin stability, and resilience to competitive disruption.
• Margin of Safety & Stewardship: Embedded risk management through valuation discipline and governance standards. Investments are made at reasonable valuations relative to intrinsic value, with strong emphasis on ethical leadership, shareholder alignment, and long-term stewardship to preserve capital while retaining upside.

In essence, the FOCUS framework integrates quality, growth, cycle awareness, competitive strength, and valuation discipline into a cohesive investment approach. By remaining anchored to business fundamentals and long-term value creation, the philosophy seeks to deliver consistent wealth creation while minimising the risk of permanent capital impairment.

Suitable For

Investors seeking exposure to high-quality businesses with an emphasis on consistency, capital protection, and long-term compounding rather than aggressive return maximisation.