Despite the boost, Marcellus' Saurabh Mukherjea has cautioned that the Indian economy remains vulnerable due to high household leverage and a prolonged slowdown in white-collar employment.
The founder of Marcellus reflects on how his investing approach has shifted over the past three years, after his early conviction in staying invested in high-priced, high-quality stocks came under pressure
He could not have imagined that a company which has historically made very good decisions, enriched shareholders to the tune of 100x I think in the preceding 20 years could make make strategic misjudgments, Mukherjea said.
Mukherjea argued that most challengers don’t have that staying power. Instead, they rely on discounts, media publicity, and higher dealer margins to gain short-term traction.
As asset quality pressures mount in retail credit and smaller lenders face headwinds, the case for sticking with quality lenders — the 'Ferraris' — will pay-off, said the founder of Marcellus Investment Managers
Strong players with disciplined underwriting and risk-adjusted pricing will capture greater market share, according to the founder of Marcellus Investment Managers
Marcellus' latest newsletter said that for nearly two decades, low-beta stocks in India have consistently outperformed riskier names, challenging the textbook belief that higher risk delivers higher reward.
Buy-at-any-price strategy backfires; Marcellus' flagship delivers 9.07% over the past five-year period compared with the Nifty 50’s return of 15.96%. The Little Champs portfolio delivers 8.12% return compared with 17.93% for the benchmark BSE 200 index.
Saurabh Mukherjea's Marcellus Investment increased cash holdings in February at a time when correction in the small and midcap space has been unfolding with investors hoping for a rebound.
Mukherjea advocated for a tax-exempt unified retirement solution—a single, integrated product combining mutual funds, insurance policies, and equities—to enable a larger segment of India’s population to build the necessary corpus for a secure retirement.
The founder of the portfolio management service weighs in on the good and the ugly that the Indian market has seen and has emerged stronger from. He also has a word of caution about the bad that could be around the corner later this year.
Recognizing early signs of this shift, he said that Marcellus has began preparing nearly eight months ago, anticipating a political shift toward rural support, particularly through increased subsidies and higher minimum support prices (MSPs).
The founder and chief investment officer at Marcellus Investment Managers was talking to Moneycontrol as part of Samvat 2081 conversations; he forecasts a multi-quarter slowdown in earnings growth
Marcellus is invested in Zomato through Info Edge, which has a substantial stake in the food delivery and restaurant aggregator company.
“Direct tax collections are still very robust. In FY2024, collections were growing at 16-17 percent, and in the first half of FY2025, direct tax collections have also been very healthy, with mid-teens growth," said Mukherjea.
Samir Arora highlighted that while pre-tax returns in India may seem promising, post-tax returns tell a different story due to the high capital gains tax, especially putting foreign investors at a disadvantage.
What Mukherjea found more encouraging, from a long-term investor perspective, is the government saying that not only will it stoke consumption and try to juice up consumption but it will do so without compromising on fiscal rectitude.
Mukherjea is betting on stocks that are gaining market share from the unorganised segment and those diversifying smartly.
Housing finance is going to be a big thing going ahead as the government is focusing on it through the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojna, he says.
Private capex, women empowerment and energy transition are the themes on Mukherjea's radar.
Affordable housing, fiscal consolidation and energy transition were the three interesting themes, says Mukherjea.
The Marcellus Investment Managers founder and CIO says all that the return of the foreign investment will do is bring some semblance of normality to the performance of largecap stocks relative to smallcaps
The company also said that they have been closely monitoring the Stage-2 rural B2C segment and taking corrective actions, which has resulted in moderate growth in this segment.
Consistent Compounders is the flagship portfolio that invests primarily in largecap stocks that have high cashflow. Little Champs portfolio invests primarily in smallcap stocks.
The PMS firm has said that it has appointed one of the "big four" companies to investigate the issue