October 17, 2025
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Abakkus Asset Manager, under the visionary leadership of ace investor Mr. Sunil Singhania, has swiftly earned a distinguished position in India’s investment landscape through its disciplined and process-driven approach. Now, with the launch of Abakkus Mutual Fund, the group takes its next strategic leap — bringing its acclaimed MEETS framework and “Believe in the Basics” philosophy to a wider retail investor base.
At the helm of this ambitious expansion is Mr. Vaibhav Chugh, the first CEO of Abakkus Mutual Fund — a dynamic leader with deep expertise in asset management, distribution, and investor engagement. In this exclusive interaction with SahiFund, he shares his roadmap for building a trust-led, advisor-driven AMC, his insights on simplifying investing without diluting alpha generation, and his views on India’s evolving equity markets.
From Abakkus’s differentiated approach to fund construction and governance, to its plans for digital reach across Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, Mr. Chugh explains how the firm aims to combine process, prudence, and performance — creating an institution that investors and partners across “India and Bharat” can relate to with confidence.
— By Jainee Shah, Director, Chanakya Mediahouse Pvt. Ltd., SEBI Registered Research Analyst & Chartered Accountant
📌Background & Vision
Abakkus Asset Manager has carved a strong identity in a short span. What is your vision for Abakkus Mutual Fund over the next 5 years?
Abakkus, since inception, has focused immensely on doing basics right and that too consistently. We want to take the legacy forward and our endeavour is to create an AMC which our investors and partners can relate to. What I mean is that most investors need simplicity and consistency and that’s what we endeavour to deliver. We will build a distribution, advisor and service led AMC, spread across India and Bharat. We will focus mainly on equity, hybrid funds to start with. We would be present in state capitals and some other important locations. We will have digital capabilities for the ease to our investors and partners.
How does the MF arm complement your existing PMS and AIF business, and how will you differentiate your offerings in an already crowded mutual fund industry?
The guiding investing philosophy and framework will remain the same. With MFs, we will have another offering from Abakkus group for retail investors too. As far as how we are going to be different will come from the framework and portfolio construction we follow. The MFs from Abakkus will have high active shares, focused on alpha generation without any biases. We are also very clear on what we won’t do. For instance, you won’t find Abakkus chasing momentum or events or do churning unnecessarily. The result of this thought process should be visible in consistency.
As CEO, what are the biggest challenges you foresee while scaling the mutual fund business, and how do you plan to tackle them?
I believe, the biggest challenge is to keep things simple and not do anything which is complicated to execute. Our business is of trust, risk management, consistent performance, service and communication and that’s what we will focus on. We don’t want to do anything just to appear intelligent or smart. I think smartness is in building a process driven business. It sounds simple but takes lot of efforts and experience to deliver.
📌 Investment Philosophy & MEETS Framework
Abakkus follows the unique MEETS framework. Can you explain how this framework will shape mutual fund portfolios differently compared to peers?
You know, how did MEETS framework originated? Its quite interesting. Sunil asked the investment team to put down all the mistakes they have done in their investing career and while analysing all the mistakes from vast experience of the team, the MEETS came into existence as our framework. So, the team figured out that if they don’t compromise with Management, quality of Earnings, don’t decide basis Events. By Timing we believe it is imperative to look at what price we are paying at a certain point in time; a good company may not be a good stock at a certain valuation. And lastly, find out companies which are undergoing Structural growth. And thus, MEETS became our filtration philosophy. India has more than 6000 listed stocks, and Abakkus has a universe of 350 stocks which are filtered out through this rigorous process. And as I said earlier, we also have clearly defined what we don’t do. Like we don’t churn unnecessarily, we don’t invest basis news or themes.
Your core philosophy is “Believe in the Basics.” How do you ensure this simplicity is not compromised while delivering alpha in a complex, volatile market environment?
That’s a good question. I always tell investors that doing simple things is always toughest. Abakkus has been in existence since 2018, and if believing in basics was one off, then such long track records would not have been delivered. When we say, we believe in basics- it simply means that we believe in earnings and management of companies we invest in. We don’t invest in companies where we think earnings will not double in 4 to 5 years. Similarly, if management doesn’t have a track record of high ROEs/ROCEs, we will ignore.
Experience of management is a big positive with us. The total experience of Abakkus investment team is more than 350 years and that’s experience is going to be differentiator.
Many fund houses chase “themes” or “momentum.” Where do you stand on sector rotation vs long-term structural bets?
It is impossible to time markets and even sectors or themes keep rotating. As they say, winners rotate but earnings thrive. Therefore, without biases, if a fund manager can focus on stocks which will deliver earnings, investors will benefit. Howard Marks has explained this through a pendulum example that like pendulum, markets keep oscillating from left to right however every time it comes back to the mid-point, which in parlance of equity markets is ‘earnings. So better to focus on earnings rather than momentum or news.
📌 Market Outlook & Strategy
With markets at record highs and volatility rising, what is your view on valuations in Indian equities? Are pockets of opportunity still available?
Yes, India has become more of stock specific off late rather than a pure top-down market. The valuations are high, undoubtedly however there are pockets where one can still invest. If you see closely, we have underperformed emerging equities and even developed markets and thus slowly we will become attractive by virtue of this time correction going around. The FIIs are not negative on India however they just want earnings to become amicable to valuations. And that’s right thing to expect.
📌 Assessing Management Hunger for Growth
Readers would like to know: How do you evaluate management hunger for growth when selecting companies? What qualitative and quantitative signals help you separate true growth-oriented promoters from others?
- In MEETS framework, our focus on earnings remains on following key aspects
- Quality of earnings as against reported numbers
- Cyclical vs Structural aspect to earnings growth
- Actual earnings vs past trends
- We look at companies which has potential to double earnings in 4 years or less
- Focus on near term growth rate – whether it is accelerating or decelerating.
- How has company’s market share been moving
- What is the current ROE? What has been the highest ROE in past 5 years?
In your view, can governance standards and promoter intent sometimes matter more than financial numbers? How do you incorporate this in your due diligence?
- Corporate governance plays an important role in our analysis and as highlighted above is well captured by Management and Earnings analysis as part of our MEETS framework
- While Promoter intent is a starting point but its conversion in action and in numbers is critical for the investment idea to work. So, from an investment framework promoter intent only won’t suffice. For the same, we also follow an exit discipline. While we think like partners and be patient with our investments across market fluctuations, we will exit an investment if the fundamentals do not pan out as expected due to sector deterioration, company specific issues, governance issues.
📌 Investors & Distribution
How do you plan to build trust with retail investors, given Abakkus is relatively new compared to legacy players?
Like I said, trust is a function of what you say and what you do. If there are no gaps between saying and doing, trust is created. We don’t want to run around to just acquire AUMs alone, we want to build business on basis of consistent performance, being true to label. For us, our happy investors and partners will be the brand ambassadors.
Distribution remains a key factor in MF success. What is your roadmap for reaching Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, where mutual fund penetration is still low?
We shall have a hybrid strategy which is to hire people in top 50 cities over next couple of years along with a knowledgeable virtual team which will help us cater to both India and Bharat. And, simultaneously, we are working on having digital capabilities to be able to onboard and service investors and partners.
What role will digital platforms and fintech partnerships play in your MF growth journey?
I believe having digital capabilities help in giving gold standard service and transacting convenience to our investors and we are building our digital capabilities. Also, nowadays, it doesn’t matter if an investor is in a metro location or some remote location in India. Thanks to digitalisation, we will be able to onboard investors from any corner of the country. The goal is to be an additive in the retirement or wealth building strategy of investors across India on a lean digital stack. We want to bring our products to where people already transact instead of trying to get people to change their habits
On the fintech partnerships, yes, we shall be working with these firms, and I must say they are also keen to partner with Abakkus.
📌 Personal Leadership & Future
You have taken charge as the first CEO of Abakkus Mutual Fund. What leadership values will define your tenure?
I am a firm believer of speed, trust and mutual respect resulting in growth. There are no shortcuts in life.
Having worked closely with Mr. Sunil Singhania, what are the key learnings from him that you bring into the MF space?
Sunil is a great professional with proven track record. His focus on doing things right and respect for people around is worth emulating. He is quite clear that he wants to build a firm which can outlive individuals and that happens when organisations are built on processes and right culture.
Finally, what message would you like to give to young investors entering equity markets for the first time?
Young investors are quite smart, well-read and inquisitive to learn and grow. My message to them is to stay realistic and don’t just invest basis past. Both good and bad investing experience should not become decision makers. Like careers are built brick by brick, by doing things right, similarly the investors make return by staying the course. Also, most importantly, understand yourself before you start investing as your behaviour will be a key lever in your investing journey.