Here's why Kotak fund manager Atul Bhole doesn't mind paying a premium for businesses

Atul Bhole has around two decades of experience in the financial markets. A fund manager at Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund, he took the helm of the Kotak Emerging Equity and Kotak Equity Hybrid funds just four months ago. With total assets worth Rs 48,100 crore, these funds are rated four stars by Value Research. In this interview, Bhole discusses the strategic changes he's implementing in his portfolios and explains his preference for stocks with high P/E ratios. He also comments on the current market conditions, noting that while many stocks have performed well, their underlying fundamentals haven't necessarily improved. Below is the edited transcript of the interview. What initially attracted you to the world of financial markets? Actually, 'attracted' is not the right word because I landed in the equity markets through the elimination process. After completing my 10th standard, I chose the commerce stream because I didn't want to go into science. Later, while pursuing the Chartered Accountancy (CA) course, I realised that I could not do audits and taxation for the rest of my life. So, I ended up in B-school, and even there, while doing finance, I realised that I might not do a banking or finance officer kind of role in the future. While in business school, one of my professors was an investor in the equity markets, and that's how I started taking an interest in the equity markets and landed in the world of finance. Could you describe your investment philosophy? What kinds of stocks or market conditions capture your interest? My investment style and philosophy lean more towards investing in high-quality management. Many people focus on high business quality, but I focus on management. From the Indian context and after learning from the markets for over one-and-a-half decades, I think management or the promoters are very important. Promoters have the power to build or destroy a business,