Winners rationale

Solid macro conditions, key structural reforms and healthy earnings growth helped make 2017 the best year for Indian equity since 2009. In addition, the MSCI India Investable Market Index returned 43.73%, vastly outperforming MSCI All World Investable Market Index’s 23.95%.

Investors have reason to pay more attention to the Indian market, as it ended the year with the total market capitalisation up 46% to US$2.29 trillion. India is now the eighth largest market in the world.

However, as market capitalisation surges, it has been the small and mid-cap stocks that led the performance, providing some 40% of excess return compared to large-cap stocks.

In this context, the Goldman Sachs India Equity Portfolio offers investors a thoughtful way of gaining exposure to Indian equities across the market cap spectrum.

The Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) team has built a balanced portfolio, from the bottom-up, by investing in businesses it believes are trading at a substantial discount to their intrinsic value, and which could outperform over a full market cycle.

The portfolio is a flexible, all-cap approach, offering exposure to a broad range of companies – including off-benchmark exposures which may offer better opportunities for alpha generation stemming from market inefficiencies.

The numbers speak for themselves, with the fund outperforming the MSCI India IMI by 591bps since its inception in 2008, on a net-of-fees basis.

The team attributes its outperformance to stock selection, which has led to the over ten-fold increase in its AUM from US$200 million to US$2.7 billion, over the past four years.

Also commendable is the level of access that the brand’s global Strategic Advisory Solutions platform extends to fund distributors. It not only delivers Goldman Sach’s expertise in market strategy, portfolio strategy and business practices, but also its numerous client education initiatives.

Through an impressive range of resources available – from proprietary research papers, sales toolkits and end client materials, to webcasts, conference and local tours – private banks’ investment teams can tap into insights of the GSAM investment team for the latest in market guidance.

Another highlight was the brand’s four-day India investor tour which outlined a compelling case for investing in India. The event included meetings with senior government officials, corporate leaders and small-business entrepreneurs, as well as onsite visits which offer a deeper understanding of India’s vast potential for economic development.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management is Asian Private Banker’s Best Fund Provider – India Equity.