Know Your Fund Manager | Rohan Korde, Fund Manager - Equity, ITI Mutual Fund

Let's start with your personal story

I'm a third generation Mumbaikar, and given this background my education has been with the State Board and Mumbai University. I am a commerce graduate from RA Podar College, and my post graduate degree is a Masters in Management Studies, specialising in Finance from METIMS.

How did you land up in this job?

My previous roles had been with various brokerage houses in the institutional equities research department, conducting fundamental and thematic research for nearly 15 years across various sectors, including Autos, Auto Ancillary, Logistics, Capital goods, & Oil and Gas. I joined ITI AMC in June 2019, to apply this experience and transition from the recommendatory nature of sell side research to actual investing and fund management.

I joined as a Senior Equity Analyst tracking the Consumption space, but after a year and a half in that role, I took up the challenge of active fund management. In addition to the role of Fund Manager, I also oversee the research function as the Head of Research.

Which funds are you currently managing?

Currently, I manage four schemes at ITI AMC.

• The largest being the ITI Mid Cap Fund, which had a corpus of Rs11.2 bn as of the previous month end. This scheme aims to invest in mid cap names that offer earnings visibility and growth potential.
• I also manage the most recent offering from our house, which is the ITI Bharat Consumption Fund, with an AUM of Rs 1.8 bn. This scheme aims to invest in a mix of established, scalable, and emerging companies and offer diversification with the consumption theme.
• The third scheme is the ITI Pharma and Healthcare Fund, which has an AUM of Rs 2.2 bn and aims to participate in India's Healthcare sector growth story.
• I also manage the ITI Value Fund, which has an AUM of Rs 3bn. This fund focuses on bottom-up stock selection with emphasis on price value gap, and also aims to invest in companies and sectors that are facing headwinds or transitional pains, which can get duly resolved over a period of time.

What is your investment philosophy, and how will you describe your investment strategy?

The primary investment philosophy is Growth at Reasonable Prices or GARP for the first three schemes mentioned above. GARP ensures that companies with the highest potential to consistently contribute to India's growth story are part of the portfolio, while ensuring, at the same time, that we are not surpassing or exceeding the valuation that any company deserves within reasonable limits. The growth angle from GARP philosophy is, of course, diluted in favour of the value or contra approach for the Value fund.

What gives you the kick while managing other people's money?

As an investment professional, it is a desire for knowledge, fresh insights, and finding investment opportunities that can generate satisfactory returns on investments over a period of time, which are driving factors. Managing investor money is a responsibility that we take very seriously at ITI AMC, and we strive to ensure that we have in-built risk management measures such as diversification of holdings. The primary objective is to ensure that, over the medium to long term, investors have a good experience with respect to the trust that they have showered upon us.