Motilal AMC Mid to Mega
Our view on the fund, the AMC, the strategy, the performance & the investment team.
IME's Review of Motilal AMC Mid to Mega
| Fund Rating | Strategy Rating | Performance Rating |
|---|---|---|
Upgrade | Upgrade | Upgrade |
View on the Fund
While Motilal has all the required credentials for a strong PMS strategy, their patch of underperformance in the recent history leads to a lower rating. However, the strategies have shown good signs of a turnaround in their performance after the recent addition of Prateek Agrawal (ex-CIO ASK PMS).
Strategy
Fund's Strategy View
The Strategy expertise in mid-cap aims to invest in a concentrated portfolio (15-20 stocks) of top mid-cap ideas. Focusing on emerging businesses benefiting from a growth in earnings and valuations re-rating. The portfolio has minimal style drift, remaining concentrated and with exposures predominantly in mid-caps. There is a clearly defined investment philosophy of long-term investing in high-quality companies that meet Motilal's QGLP Philosophy (Quality, Growth, Longevity, Price).
Fund Performance
The fund has underperformed peers in the last 5yr trailing returns. In terms of longer-term annual performance, performance has been consistent, with the fund having outperformed it's benchmark in over 60% of annual calendar years.
Trailing Performance
| 1yr | 3yr | 5yr | Since Inception | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motilal AMC Mid to Mega | 0.2 | 24.8 | 17.5 | 21.5 |
| S&P BSE 500 | 6.5 | 15 | 15 | 16.1 |
| Alpha over Broad Mkt BM | -6.3 | 9.8 | 2.5 | 5.4 |
| Nifty Midcap 150 | 8.3 | 22.8 | 22.2 | |
| Alpha over Category BM | -8.1 | 2 | -4.7 |
Performance as of: 31-Jan-26 | Inception Date: 24-Dec-19 | Performance are post-fees, pre-taxes. Global funds denominated in USD or fund currency.
Investment team
Prateek Agrawal | 5-star rated FM
Executive Director | 32 yrs Experience | 3 yrs at current firm
Past Experience: BoI AXA MF (Head of Equity), BNP Paribas MF (Head of Equity), SBI Capital Markets (Head of Research)
Prateek is the CEO of Motilal Oswal AMC. He has over 3 decades of experience in fund management and research, having worked in senior positions in BoI AXA MF, BNP Paribas MF, SBI Capital Markets and ASK. In his last stint at ASK, he was spearheaded the growth of ASK PMS over this period.
Abhishek Anand | 3-star rated FM
Fund Manager | 22 yrs Experience | 2 yrs at current firm
Past Experience: Centrum Wealth Management, Centrum Broking, SBI Capital Markets, Dun & Bradstreet, CMIE
Abhishek Anand has 20+ years of experience with 8 years in institutional equity research covering sectors such as Telecom, Media, IT & Consumer. He has won the Starmine Top Analyst Award for 2011-12 and 2012-13 by Thomson Reuters. His previous assignments were with the institutional research division of SBI Capital Markets, Dun & Bradstreet, and CMIE.
Madanagopal Ramu | 3-star rated FM
FM (Alternates) | 21 yrs Experience | 8 yrs at current firm
Past Experience: manager Director (Bank of America Merrill Lynch), Manager (ICICI Bank)
Having joined Sundaram as a research analyst in 2010, Madangopal went on to become the Head of Research and co-manager of a number of the Sundaram AMC funds. He joined the PMS division in 2018.
Rakesh Tarway | 3-star rated FM
Fund Manager | 20 yrs Experience | 8 yrs at current firm
Past Experience: Reliance Securities (Head of Research), Motilal Securities (Head of Research), HSBC InvestDirect (Analyst)
Rakesh is a seasoned equity research professional, with a focus on identifying emerging businesses in the small & mid-cap sectors.
IME's Review of Motilal Oswal AMC PMS
| AMC Rating | Pedigree Rating | Team Rating | Philosophy Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
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View on AMC
Motilal PMS, co-founded by a respected investor, offers strong pedigree, robust processes, and stability backed by its broking and mutual fund arms. However, strategy performance has been weak in recent years amid significant churn in the core investment team. While recent results show signs of improvement, a sustained turnaround under the new team remains to be seen.
AMC's Pedigree
Motilal PMS has a strong investment pedigree in India, thanks to co-founder Ramdeo Agarwal's philosophy and processes.
AMC Team
Motilal has experienced significant turnover in its investment team in recent years. CIO Manish Sonthalia and several other team members have left. Prateek Agarwal has replaced Manish and is working to improve underperforming PMS strategies. It is too soon to assess the impact of Prateek's changes on Motilal's investment approach and performance.
Investment Philosophy
Motilal Oswal's QGLP investment philosophy focuses on identifying Quality businesses with strong fundamentals and management, possessing robust Growth potential in earnings and ROE. They prioritize the Longevity of these companies' competitive advantages, ensuring sustained performance. Finally, the "P" emphasizes buying these exceptional businesses at a Reasonable Price to ensure a margin of safety, aiming for long-term wealth creation through a disciplined approach. Motilal follows a long-term investment philosophy focused on high-quality companies meeting their QGLP criteria for over 20 years, resulting in consistent and attractive returns with minimal style drift.
Investment Strategy
- Growth orientation: Targets portfolio-level earnings growth of 20%+ and portfolio ROE of 15%+.
- Reversion to mean: Focuses on companies where valuations have corrected over the last 2 years while underlying earnings strength has been retained.
- Sector positioning: Avoids or maintains minimal exposure to commodities and global cyclical sectors.
Portfolio Construction
- Conviction-led allocation: Position sizing is driven by business conviction and long-term fundamentals, rather than short-term price movements.
- Price–timeline discipline: Mismatch between price performance and fundamental timelines triggers portfolio action on both the buy and sell side. Positions are actively trimmed if prices run ahead of expected outcomes.
AMC Background
Motilal Oswal PMS is among India’s oldest and most successful PMS houses, backed by the formidable investment reputation and long-term track record of its co-founder, Ramdeo Agarwal. The firm is known for its disciplined, fundamental-driven investment style and a consistent focus on owning high-quality businesses with durable competitive advantages.
As part of one of India’s largest brokerage and asset management platforms, Motilal benefits from strong research depth, institutional processes, and scale. Its combination of a promoter-led investment philosophy, long-term orientation, and strong execution capability places it among the most respected PMS providers in the country.
Investment Philosophy
Motilal follows a clearly articulated long-term investment philosophy anchored in its proprietary QGLP framework. The philosophy has been applied consistently for over two decades, with minimal style drift across market cycles.
QGLP Framework
- Quality (Business & Management): Preference for stable, high-quality businesses—often consumer-facing— with large opportunity sizes, sustainable competitive advantages, and competent management teams.
- Growth in Earnings: Earnings growth driven by a combination of volume expansion, pricing power, product mix improvement, and operating and financial leverage.
- Longevity (of Quality & Growth): Focus on businesses with long-term relevance, an extended competitive advantage period, and the ability to sustain growth over multiple years.
- Price: Investing at reasonable valuations relative to quality and growth prospects, with an emphasis on maintaining a margin of safety.
Once businesses meeting the strict QGLP criteria are identified, Motilal adopts a disciplined buy-and-hold approach, building concentrated portfolios and allowing long-term compounding to play out rather than engaging in frequent portfolio churn.
Suitable For
Investors seeking long-term exposure to high-quality companies with sustained growth potential, across market capitalisations, under a well-established and promoter-led investment philosophy.
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