Dezerv Wealth Summit 2025: FDs, gold dominate Indian portfolios; equity gets just 10%, says Mirae’s Swarup Mohanty

Bhavish Jain of Edelweiss says our approach to launching a SIF was driven by its long-standing philosophy of building a track record rather than selling products. At Edelweiss, hybrid investing has always been treated as a distinct capability, separate from pure equity or fixed income. Drawing on its experience in managing arbitrage funds, balanced advantage funds, multi-asset funds, and equity savings funds, the firm identified an opportunity to enhance returns without materially increasing risk by using derivative strategies not permitted in traditional mutual funds.

Bhavish Jain of Edelweiss says objective of the SIF was to deliver returns of arbitrage plus 2.5–3%, without relying on directional short positions. Instead, the strategy focuses on option writing—such as covered calls and covered puts—where SIFs allow greater flexibility compared to mutual funds, which are restricted largely to covered calls on Nifty 50 stocks. The portfolio combines debt, arbitrage, and select special situations to generate incremental returns.

Gaurav Mehta of SBI MF says SIFs differ meaningfully from conventional mutual funds, which are largely beta-driven and closely linked to the performance of underlying asset classes. While traditional funds do generate some alpha, their outcomes are predominantly determined by market direction. SIFs, by contrast, allow for shorting and the creation of risk–reward profiles that are not directly dependent on rising markets, enabling investors to benefit even during market declines.

Gaurav Mehta of SBI MF says these products achieve equity taxation by maintaining at least 65% exposure to equities, while using enhanced derivative strategies to manage risk and return variability. Compared to traditional mutual funds, SIFs offer greater flexibility in using options and other derivatives, enabling more effective risk management despite the equity exposure.

Sandip Tandon of Quant said the long–short product is still new in India and requires a shift in investor education and mindset. He noted that shorting is largely viewed only through the lens of hedging, rather than as a tool for alpha generation. While some HNI and family office investors understand how to use short positions to generate returns, this broader understanding is still missing across much of the market.

Sandip Tandon of Quant said shorting requires a very different behavioural mindset compared to long-only investing. Investors are typically comfortable with interim losses on long positions, often adopting a “buy on dips” approach. However, when it comes to short positions, there is a strong reluctance to accept losses, as shorting is often seen purely as an alpha-generating strategy rather than as a form of insurance or risk management.

Sandip Tandon of Quant said  accepting the possibility of losses on short positions is critical to effective risk assessment. Once investors acknowledge that losses can occur on both the long and short sides, they can better manage overall portfolio risk. This behavioural adjustment, he said, is something the industry is beginning to experience for the first time.

DSP’s Kalpen Parekh: In 2026, our primary focus will continue to be hybrid funds, especially multi asset funds, where two thirds of the portfolio is in growth, which is stocks of India and the world, and 1/3 of the portfolio is in anti growth, which is gold, silver and bonds.

Kalpen Parekh of DSP MF: Balanced asset allocation, personalised to each investor, is important.

Swarup Mohanty of Mirae: An average Indian investor invests 30% of his or her money in FDs, 30% in gold and 10% of money comes in equity.

Swarup Mohanty of Mirae: All portfolio allocation rules that existed till today might not have any correlation to what you will do from 2026.

Swarup Mohanty of Mirae: Portfolio allocation in 2026 has to be looked very refreshingly or in a very fresh sort of approach.

Vaibhav Porwal of Dezerv: Last 6 months, you would have received more calls about investing in gold and silver than about equity. So this clearly shows that we get highly influenced by the recent performance of the asset classes. And that's the biggest mistake that we make. At the peak of any cycle, it's very difficult to make a distinction between skill and luck.

Siddharth Swaminathan of Blackrock: In 2026, look at big themes, asset allocation, differentiated strategies and international exposures.

Kalpen Parekh of DSP MF: 2026 will be a combination of most investors chasing what has done very well last year.

Vaibhav of Dezerv : There are 2 parts to the portfolio, one part of the portfolio is your core portfolio, which remains intact for a long period of time, you make smaller tweaks in the portfolio based on your life situation, your network situation. Otherwise, large part of their portfolio remains intact. On the margin, you keep making technical changes.

Vaibhav of Dezerv:  Portfolio should be treated as a system, not as a collection of securities. See, most of the time, we treat portfolio as a collection of securities. We buy multiple instruments, multiple asset classes, and as a result of whatever is built, as a result of that, whatever is built, becomes our portfolio.

Portfolio is a system which ensures that your capital is protected, you are growing your wealth, and at the same time, you are able to stay invested.

Ashish Gupta, CIO, Axis Mutual Fund: Equity supply should not be assessed solely through IPO volumes. Secondary stake sales by promoters and private equity investors now far exceed primary issuance, effectively doubling total equity supply. When combined, primary and secondary issuance amounts to nearly $60 billion annually, with an even larger pipeline expected next year due to higher IPO counts and expiring pre-IPO lock-ins. However, this supply can materialise only in a bullish market environment, reinforcing the point that while supply may cap upside returns, it is unlikely to precipitate a market downturn on its own

Ashish Gupta, CIO, Axis Mutual Fund: Equity supply should be viewed primarily as a constraint on return expectations rather than as a trigger for a market crisis. History shows that when markets correct meaningfully, supply naturally recedes. For instance, following the sharp correction between October and February last year, IPO activity virtually disappeared in March. This illustrates that supply is endogenous to market conditions—when sentiment weakens, new issuance slows, reducing the risk of supply-driven stress.

Ashish Gupta, CIO, Axis Mutual Fund:   The flow of capital into the primary market has acted as an important stabilising force. A steady absorption of $20–30 billion annually through IPOs helps prevent excessive liquidity from flooding the secondary market, where valuations were already stretched. In that sense, a strong primary market effectively places a cap on speculative excess in listed equities, mitigating the risk of further valuation distortions.

Ashish Gupta, CIO, Axis Mutual Fund:  Promoters and private equity investors are consistently selling, while credit markets—through widening Double-A and Single-A spreads—are warning of rising risk. Ignoring these indicators would be imprudent; responding to them with thoughtful diversification is simply disciplined investing.

Ashish Gupta, CIO, Axis Mutual Fund: The decision to look beyond India for investments was driven not by ideology, but by necessity. Concerns around market overvaluation, weakening accounting quality, and promoters monetising their stakes could not be ignored—especially when the objective was long-term financial security, such as funding education. When challenged to move past diagnosis and find solutions, the conclusion was straightforward: capital should follow quality, not geography. If high-quality businesses are available globally, investors should not feel constrained to invest only within India.

"The money that has come into the markets, I don’t think that has come from the strongest hands. It has come from individuals who are typically younger, who have shorter time horizons, and who have not withstood a falling market.

So if you ask me, yes, there is a reasonable probability. What that is in terms of a precise number, I don’t know. But can this market see a correction in inflows or even an outflow? Certainly, it can. Is that a high probability or a low probability? I don’t think it’s low. I’m not sure whether it’s high, but I would say there is a reasonable risk of that transpiring," said Chirag Setalvad, Head of Equities, HDFC Mutual Fund.

"If you understand long-term trends, stick to your asset allocation, get into a product which is designed to benefit out of it," said Abhishek Tiwari, CEO, PGIM India AMC.

Dezerv Wealth Summit 2025 LIVE: 'People have forgotten the concept of investing - 
It is gambling'

"People have forgotten the concept of investing.
It is gambling," said Siddhartha Bhaiya, MD & CIO, Aequitas Investment Consultancy. "Everybody talks about time in the markets. You know, most mutual funds have a churn ratio more than 100%. So where's the time in the market?"

AI has all the characteristics of a bubble, said Siddhartha Bhaiya, MD & CIO, Aequitas Investment Consultancy. "We are value investors. We ignore AI. Even though it may be the future. For me, it’s finding the value, ignoring the narrative. People talk about Buffet's investment in Apple. But he invested at 14 times earnings," he added.

Saurabh Mukherjea, Founder & CIO, Marcellus Investment Managers, said that promoters and private equity are selling every day. Look at double A and single A spreads for the last 2 years, double A and single A spreads are giving you a message. That bond investors are saying that Indian spreads need to go up, prices are coming down. Nifty EPS growth for the last 8 quarters, maybe 10, is running its low single digits for the last 8 quarters. Those who are watching here or online, join all of us in the global right because that's what investing is about, diversify, diversify across high quality assets. India's had a good few years. Other markets will have good few years now," said Saurabh Mukherjea, Founder & CIO, Marcellus Investment Managers.

Siddhartha Bhaiya, MD & CIO, Aequitas Investment Consultancy said that Indian markets are in a "bubble of epic proportions". "I'm going to say this in public. It is not SIP. It is SWT. It is systematic well transferred from India's middle class to the rich. The SIP amount has been matched with promoter offloading. Everybody cribs about last one year, returns because maximum money came in the last 18 months. Everybody talks asset allocation. You know, when a bull market comes, your asset allocation is thrown out of the window," he said, adding that we are not in a healthy bull or capital market.

"While it's easy to get a bit frustrated that last year returns have been not so good or they have an underperformed other asset classes, but if you look at the slightly longer picture, you see that they've delivered very good wealth for investors and some of that mean reversion has happened," said Aparna Karnik, Head-Quantitative Investments and Analytics (QIA), DSP Mutual Fund.

While one shouldn't look at past performances to decide where to invest, it is worthwhile to look at long-term historical averages, said Aparna Karnik, Head-Quantitative Investments and Analytics (QIA), DSP Mutual Fund.

"Indian equiteis generally had a bout of underperformance in the last one year. But if you look at Indian equities over the past 5 years, 10 years, we have seen returns of 14 or 15%," she added.

Sandeep Jethwani, Co-Founder of Dezerv, listed out the most common errors that investors make in their portfolios:

• Over-reliance on past performance of mutual funds, stocks or other asset classes
• Over diversification
• Tendency to act on the portfolio more often than you should

Sandeep Jethwani, Co-Founder of Dezerv, said that people are not exiting markets, but impatience persists. “Wealth managers must explain investors that what happened in the previous year is not a reflection of what will happen in the next year,” he added.

As market returns have been beaten by fixed deposits over the past one year, Sandeep Jethwani, Co-Founder of Dezerv, said that wealth managers should hand-hold investors and make them understand the time frame of their investment. “You don’t know when markets can rally 5%. Staying invested is important,” he said.

He however added that equities is not the only asset class one should invest in. “Fixed income has done recently well in India, gold and silver also merit a reasonable allocation of up to 10% in the portfolio,  and then there is international assets,” he said.

While investing, nobody envisages volatility. In a sense, volatility is the price you pay for compounding, said Sandeep Jethwani, Co-Founder of Dezerv. He added that bad decisions are taken during periods of extreme volatility. “Its either when markets are doing exceptionally well, when we get carried away and over-invest, or when things are down, and we tend to exit the markets prematurely. India has seen another form of volatility where see no returns for an extended period of time. This is the time when people’s patience gets tested,” he said.

Sandeep Jethwani, Co-Founder of Dezerv, is kickstarting the summit with a fireside chat on 'Building Portfolios to Beat Volatility'.

The equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty settled marginally lower on Monday, however, pared early losses, supported by value buying in select sectors such as consumer durables, FMCG and IT.

The Sensex dipped 54.30 points or 0.06% to 85,213.36. The Nifty edged lower by 19.65 points or 0.08% to 26,027.30.

Dezerv Wealth Summit 2025 LIVE:

The summit brings together India's leading investors and fund managers to cut through market noise and focus on what truly builds long-term wealth. With the theme 'Building Wealth in an Uncertain World', the summit explores today’s most relevant investment ideas, from long–short strategies and global allocation to pre-IPO opportunities, precious metals. Join us for an evening of sharp insights, candid conversations, and strategies designed for real-world investing.

Building Portfolios to Beat Volatility

• Sandeep Jethwani, Co-Founder, Dezerv

The Big Allocation Debate: Indian Equites Vs Everything Else

• Aparna Karnik, Head-Quantitative Investments and Analytics (QIA), DSP Mutual Fund
• Siddhartha Bhaiya, MD & CIO, Aequitas Investment Consultancy
• Abhishek Tiwari, CEO, PGIM India AMC
• Saurabh Mukherjea, Founder & CIO, Marcellus Investment Managers

Chasing Alpha in 2026: Sectors, Themes & IPOs

• Harsha Upadhyaya, CIO - Equity, President, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management
• Niket Shah, CIO, Motilal Oswal Asset Management
• Chirag Setalvad, Head of Equities, HDFC Mutual Fund
• Ashish Gupta, CIO, Axis Mutual Fund

Tactical Allocation: Making the Right Moves at the Right Time

• Vaibhav Porwal, Co-founder, Dezerv

The MF Playbook for 2026: Flows, Foresight and Forward Strategy

• Swarup Mohanty, Vice Chairman & CEO, Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India)
• Kalpen Parekh, MD & CEO, DSP Mutual Fund
• Sid Swaminathan, MD & CEO, JioBlackRock Mutual Fund

Long–Short Funds: Performance, Pitfalls & the Promise of SIFs

• Gaurav Mehta, Head -SIF (Equity), SBI Mutual Fund
• Bhavesh Jain, Co-Head, Factor Investing, Edelweiss Asset Management
• Sandeep Tandon, Founder, Quant Group

Across focused, high-impact sessions, industry leaders will deep-dive into practical investment challenges including portfolio diversification frameworks, multi-asset allocation, alternatives such as long-short strategies, the role of gold and silver in uncertain cycles, and navigating IPOs and pre-listing investments. The discussions move beyond theory into clear, implementable thinking, showing how to balance growth with capital protection in shifting markets.

Centred on the theme Building Wealth in an Uncertain World, the Summit tackles the real questions investors are asking right now. Which strategies are proving resilient in Indian market conditions? How should global diversification be structured when every geography tells a different story? What asset allocation adjustments are needed when long-held assumptions no longer hold true?

Markets today feel louder than ever. Volatility is up. Correlations that once helped guide asset allocation are breaking down. Traditional playbooks are being questioned. And for many investors, the hardest part is knowing what to trust and what to ignore. Moneycontrol's Dezerv Wealth Summit 2025 is built to address exactly that and more. This is where India’s most respected investment strategists, portfolio managers, and wealth creators come together to cut through the noise and focus on what actually works when markets become unpredictable.