India's longest-serving fund managers & their performance

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have been managing money at Berkshire Hathaway for nearly 60 years. Quite a feat that is. While there are no Indian equivalents to them (at least in terms of their longevity), we decided to take a look at the five longest-serving fund managers in India at the moment, and their performance over the years (only diversified equity funds were considered).

Sailesh Raj Bhan (18 years and 1 month)
Currently the chief investment officer (equities) at Nippon India AMC , Raj Bhan has been managing the multi-cap fund since May 1, 2005.

During this time, his funds have delivered 17.6 per cent returns when compared to category average of 14.4 per cent (as of June 9, 2023).

But dig deep and you'd see that the multi-cap fund (it was a flexi-cap fund until 2020) had its sunny days in the first decade before tapering off dramatically between 2016 and 2020. However, the fund has bounced back strongly in the last couple of years.

Mahesh Patil (17 years and 6 months)
Currently the chief investment officer at Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC , Patil has been managing the ABSL Frontline Equity since November 17, 2005, delivering 14.9 per cent against a category average of 12.9 per cent (as of June 9, 2023).

In this case, most of the returns came in the initial years and despite the growing size in recent years, it has failed to match its heydays. That said, it's been in line with the category average over the last few years.

Anand Radhakrishnan (16 years and 2 months)
Currently the CIO-Equity at Franklin Templeton AMC , Radhakrishnan has been managing the AMC's blue chip and flexi-cap funds since 2007. Since then, his funds have delivered 11.5 and 13.6 per cent, respectively, as against category averages of 11.4 and 11.8 per cent (as of June 9, 2023).

While both his funds have been fairly consistent over extended periods, only the flexi-cap fund has seen a notable increase in assets (investor's money, in layperson's terms).

Chirag Setalvad (16 years and 1 month)
Currently the head of equities at HDFC AMC , Setalvad has been managing the HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund since the very beginning, delivering 16.4 per cent against the category average of 13 per cent.

While the initial years were sombre due to the market crashes in 2008 and 2011, the fund has grown so big that it is now the largest actively-managed equity fund (as of May 2023).

R Janakiraman (15 years and 3 months)
Currently the vice president and portfolio manager (equities) at Franklin Templeton AMC, Janakiraman has been managing their mid- and small-cap funds since February 11, 2008, delivering 13.5 and 15.0 per cent against category average of 12.1 and 13.4 per cent (as of June 9, 2023), respectively.

Both the funds performed well during the turbulent years of 2008-13 and continued to perform well despite growing in size. However, both funds' performance since 2019 have fallen behind its peers.

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