Alchemy Capital eyes Rs500 cr for new AIF to invest in disruptive companies

Mumbai: Rakesh Jhunjunwala-backed portfolio management services provider Alchemy Capital Management has launched its new Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), which will invest in emerging market leaders across sectors, a senior executive said in an interaction with B2B.

The new fund, Alchemy Leaders of Tomorrow, Closed Ended Fund, Series 2, will have a tenure of three years and the firm is targeting a corpus of Rs 500 crore. The first iteration of this fund raised Rs 125 crore in 2018. The fund is a category III AIF, which invests in listed stocks.

Alchemy, founded in 1999 by Lashit Sanghvi, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Ashwin Kedia and Hiren Ved, currently manages an approximately $1 billion portfolio for HNIs, family offices and overseas investors.

The allocation of the investment will be multi-cap and sector agnostic, which will allow flexibility in-stock selection. The scheme aims to increase investments from high net worth individuals, high net worth individuals (HNIs and UHNIs), entrepreneurs, companies and family offices.

 “Alchemy Leaders of Tomorrow, Closed End Fund, Series 2 is a fund whose main objective is to create a portfolio for the future, investing in companies that build a strong competitive advantage to compete and stand out in an increasingly disruptive digital environment.” Hiren Ved, Co-Founder, CEO, Director and CIO of Alchemy Capital Management.

 "We're not buying small and mid-caps that will become large caps. What we're saying is that the companies that are going to lead the next five or 5-10 years are not necessarily going to be the leaders of the past. The reason for this is that leadership changes every 8-10 years due to business cycles, and new entrepreneurs come in and creating massive competitive edge and disrupting existing players," said Ved.

Ved said that the current business environment in India is undergoing massive change due to major regulatory changes and digital disruption, which will create new leaders across sectors.

 “What we are currently witnessing is a major change in the business environment and context, brought about by several things, such as the change in the regulatory environment in India through GST, RERA, IBC, etc. But the biggest change is technology-driven change. "The entire digital landscape has changed and is causing disruption. In every industry, and every time there is a big upheaval, there are winners and losers and new entrants."

The Ved added that the changing business environment will cause companies to be reassessed in the market and therefore investors should also align their portfolios.

“The market will re-rate companies that are not adapting to the changing environment, so your portfolio must also adapt to this change and position itself not with the leaders of the past but with the leaders of tomorrow,” he said.

The fund's mandate allows it to invest in various opportunities, including investing in India-listed equities, QIPs, debt instruments and in IPOs.

The firm claims that Alchemy Leaders of Tomorrow - Closed End Fund, Series 1, which expired in November 2021, has given a CAGR of  22.1% since inception.

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