Every morning around 8:30, Kenneth Andrade is usually among the first employees to walk into the plush IDFC Mutual Fund office at Indiabulls Centre in Mumbai’s Lower Parel. The 42-year-old chief investment officer tends to be a loner, who keeps to himself and prefers not to interfere with other people’s work.
Of late though, his colleagues say Andrade has become a bit more aloof, choosing to retreat inside his cabin on the sixth floor. There, he stays put for hours, poring over a set of historical charts. For casual observers, it would seem as if Andrade is on a new secret mission.
And they wouldn’t be far off the mark. The crack fund manager is entering an intensely critical phase in his career — one that could determine the future of the IDFC Premier Fund, the country’s most successful mid-cap fund. With a corpus of Rs. 2,000 crore, IDFC Premier is the second biggest in its genre. At 16 percent annually for the past three years, its returns have been more consistent and better than the Goliath in the space, Reliance Growth Fund, and significantly more than the measly five percent which the BSE 500 has generated.
Over the past five years, the consistent superior performance of the IDFC Premier Fund has also built a formidable reputation for Andrade as a mid-cap specialist. He manages around Rs. 5,000 crore of equity for IDFC Mutual Fund which has a size of Rs. 21,000 crore.
Given the high degree of concentration risk, most seasoned market players are following his moves very closely to see if his winning streak will sustain. “Kenneth is probably the best example of the rational contrarian in the Indian mutual fund industry. His methods are typified by keen attention to details. He has a highly disciplined approach to stock selection and the belief that risk adjusted value triumphs in the long run,” says Sanjoy Bhattacharya, Partner, Fortuna Capital and a Forbes India columnist.
Patience Has Its Rewards
(This story appears in the 17 June, 2011 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
in ths dwn mkt few gd funds r requried wch cn gv up to double rt thn fdr or pvt fx deposit that watch gd response fr sure.
on Sep 1, 2013i hold idfc prem fund, ths fund with minimum 25000 rs investment sml corpes lmited segment total 800 som odd cr, pd v.gd rt in today tm such inovatie idea r needed. i feel evanhe brings th fund to enter 50000to 75000 rs wth less no of serieou investor wl be well appreciated.
on Sep 1, 2013andhre previes fund r realy good. i alwaes waitfr his nxt launch.wn is nxt fund coming.
on Sep 1, 2013Qudos to IDFC for such gem by name KENNETH ANDRADE, and more so, that the Scheme is intermittantly open and close depending on the market scenerio. In fact in the industry, there are no players, who really take this much pain to safeguard utmost interest of investors. All MFs are greedy as for collecting money; and then find execuses as for market uncertainity / scenerio et al
on Jun 18, 2011Advisors like us indirectly rely on market stalwarts like Andrade. I have a huge respect for him and his style of investing. I had been to IDFC centre some time back and I saw this gentlemen walking down the reception. His body language was so subtle. He does not give you a feeling that he is one of the pillars of IDFC. Such a down to earth person. Kudos. Futurewise Financial Planners Pvt. Ltd. facebook.com/futurewise
on Jun 17, 2011