Countering stereotypes not easy, but India Inc has come a long way, says SBI MF’s Mansi Sajeja

Mansi Sajeja, fund manager and credit analyst at SBI Mutual Fund, co-manages six funds: SBI Balanced Advantage Fund, SBI Conservative Hybrid Fund, SBI Equity Hybrid Fund, SBI Equity Savings Fund, SBI Multi Asset Allocation Fund and SBI Short Term Debt Fund. These funds have nearly Rs 1.41 lakh crore in total assets under management at India’s biggest asset management company.

As per Sajeja, growing up in the 1980s and 1990s—the pre-internet era—the single-minded focus for kids and their parents in Indian metro cities was to use education (prominent degrees and some skills along the way) as a stepping stone to career success and meet lifestyle aspirations.

“I was no different. There was no analyst, research, buy side, sell side aspiration, forget a fund manager career to aim for,” she said.

As part of the series, Moneycontrol highlights Sajeja’s experiences, insights and outlook for the Indian markets.

What were your aspirations while growing up?

One thing led to another organically. Like an interest in business and economics, reading business newspapers and magazines, following a few IPOs, pursuing an MBA and taking finance specialisation. The only conscious choice perhaps was to try to take up a role that was front and centre India, which involved meeting Indian promoters and observing from the pitch rather than the galleries. No doubt research opportunities at offshore units of global firms could have led to a different global career but at that point, almost 19 years ago, it seemed like a personal choice to be in India.

Tell us about your initial career days.

I started as a credit analyst in a rating agency, and moved on to a mutual fund as an analyst after the global financial crisis. I slowly moved into sectoral funds and then more diversified mandates in the fixed-income space.

Was it tough for you to crack the asset management field which, to an extent, is dominated by men?

More than anything what matters for women (or for anyone) in investment management roles is staying the course while navigating the evolution from being an analyst, senior analyst, looking at a few portfolios and then managing a bit more money. Nothing much differentiates the opportunities, just that there is no substitute for hard work and learning from experiences that come with staying the course. It can be a bit daunting to counter stereotypes, but I genuinely believe India Inc has come a long way to reduce a few barriers.

Do you believe that after the kind of correction we have seen in markets and valuations that only good days are ahead?

On market corrections, we understand that it is a larger emerging market and an India-specific sell-off given relative valuations. At the cost of sounding cliche, at no point is there a substitute for deciding asset allocation based on goals and timing of those goals.

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Why are hybrid funds witnessing a decline in investor interest (low fresh inflows) despite experts consistently recommending this category amid rising equity market volatility?

Hybrid funds offer automatic asset class rebalancing, which is quite useful in volatile times. If equity can be max 80 percent in an aggressive hybrid, no matter what the fund manager’s view, they must maintain that upper cap on an almost daily basis. This discipline is often missing or suffers from human biases when you try to do it yourself.

Can conservative hybrid funds be a better bet than fixed deposits, and how?

Conservative hybrid funds have suffered from marginal tax treatment, but sometimes we miss the forest for the trees. Not all individuals are at the highest tax slab. A lot of investors—those with only passive income, retired individuals, first-time investors—should consider conservative hybrid funds, and multi-asset and dynamic asset allocation categories to build a portfolio suited to their goals.

Also read | Passive funds fail to cushion market correction, active strategies outperform

If you could give one piece of advice to retail investors today, what would it be?

Retail investors have evolved in India and in a great departure from the India of the 1990s, don't see equity as a speculative asset class, and rightly so. It is their veracity which has deepened the markets and hopefully they will not be disappointed if they have thought through their investments to match their goals. I'm no expert to give advice but maybe they should not try to extrapolate any short-term outcomes indefinitely. Investment outcomes are a result of a lot of effort, some skill and a couple of serendipitous events.