Small-town wealthy dive into high-risk PMS funds

share of such investors from non-metros nearly triple in three years from 10-12% to 30%.

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“Earlier, the majority of the money from non-metro cities used to come from Surat and Rajkot from Gujarat, where investment into equities is high,” said Praveen Ladia, chief executive officer (CEO) at Karma Capital. “Now, with the scope and awareness of alternatives increasing, we are seeing flows coming from Jodhpur, Raipur, Aurangabad, Indore and as far as Guwahati and Tirupur also.”

Overall, the PMS industry's client count has nearly doubled, from about 130,000 to 220,000 in three years through October, according to data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The industry's assets under management (AUM)-excluding employee provident fund (EPFO) money as it is not reflected in industry AUM-surged 1.7 times to ₹8.54 trillion during the period. Clients from smaller cities have contributed to this growth.

Deserv Investments Pvt. Ltd, which manages ₹10,000 crore in PMS assets, now has investors from non-metro cities accounting for 40% of its base, up from 30% two years ago. The share these investors to its AUM has grown from 17% to 22% during the period.