Tejas Khoday.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru: FYERS, a Bengaluru-based technology-driven brokerage platform, which launched Portfolio Management Services (PMS) last year, is now planning to roll out a Category-III Alternative Investment Fund (AIF). With this, FYERS will tap deeper into India’s rising pool of high-net-worth (HNI) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNI) investors seeking long-term, professionally managed equity exposure.
The company is looking at raising Rs 1,000 crore through the new AIF. The minimum investment limit per investor will be Rs 1 crore and there is no cap on the amount one can invest. While, it is aimed at HNI, and UHNI investors, no singular investor is allowed to invest more than 25 per cent of the total fund size, Tejas Khoday, Co-Founder and CEO, FYERS told DH.
"We have a PMS licence and we will be getting into AIF. We have filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for an approval to launch a Category-III AIF. We hope to get the licence in the next six months," Khoday said.
The company plans to launch its AIF within two months after getting Semi's nod, he said.
In September 2024, FYERS launched its Asset Management Services arm, which is licensed by Sebi. Currently, the company is offering tailored Portfolio Management Services (PMS) to HNIs, UHNIs, and institutional investors.
"We follow a structured, 360-degree investment framework focused on long-term, sustainable wealth creation. By combining deep market intelligence with disciplined, research-driven strategies, FYERS Asset Management delivers focused, custom-built portfolios designed to uncover high-potential opportunities and create lasting value for affluent clients," Khoday said.
Explaining the advantages of AIF, Khoday said the difference between PMS and AIF is that PMS is very well defined only in stocks. There is a benchmark that one must adhere to. AIF gives more flexibility to the fund manager for investing across the board. "We could be doing multi-asset, meaning that it could be anything from all kinds of stocks, bonds, commodities, depending on the strategy SEBI gives us a licence for," Khoday said.
An AIF is a privately-pooled investment vehicle that collects funds from investors. There are three categories of AIFs and FYERS is looking at entering a Category-III AIF. Category-III AIFs deploy complex trading strategies to manage investments made by investors looking for diversification beyond traditional investment options.
In 2015, Khoday founded FYERS. Drawing from his experiences working in both domestic and international firms, he bootstrapped FYERS into a debt-free, profitable company, with a net worth exceeding Rs 100 crore, and a workforce comprising 300+ capital market professionals in a short period. FYERS has close to 1 million subscribers on its brokerage platform.
Commenting on the returns to investors through the AIF, Khoday said it is very difficult to give any guarantee on high returns.
According to SEBI, over Rs 5.60 lakh crore has been raised by various AIFs. Of this, Rs 4.08 lakh crore is raised from domestic investors, while the balance has come in from foreign investors.