Mr. Amit Tripathi (1)

Anup has been working with DSP BlackRock Investment Managers

Pvt. Ltd.

(previously called DSP Merrill Lynch Fund Managers) since July 1997, and has been managing the domestic funds since May 2001.

Anup was CIO at HSBC Asset Management between Dec 2005 and May 2006 before returning to DSP BlackRock Investment Managers. Between 1997 and 2000, Anup also managed an offshore fund, the Merrill Lynch India Fund which was registered in Mauritius and sold to Merrill Lynch's clientele outside India. Prior to joining DSP BlackRock Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd.,he worked with Chescor, a British fund management firm that managed three offshore funds investing into Indian equities. Anup obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Sydenham College, Bombay University, in 1991 followed by a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow, in 1993. In May 2005, the "Top Fund Managers of India" survey conducted by Business Today and Mutualfundsindia.com, featured Anup amongst the top equity fund managers in the country.

Please give inputs on current state of the market.
India continues to be one of the better performing markets not only across the EMs, but DMs as well. Positive outcome of the elections in May and the improvement in macro-economic data could be attributed to the up move this year. Despite the move, markets are fairly valued at 16x 1 year forward earnings. Higher earnings growth, increasing ROE and falling inflation (which will result in lower policy rates) will be the key drivers for the market.

Globally, there was a surprise news related to Japan going into recession. What are the implications of this for global markets and India?
Japan"s recessionary trend was certainly unexpected. However we believe that the Abe administration will be able to push important reforms and spur inflation and growth eventually. The negative surprise was enough to put the Yen under pressure against the US dollar. A few of the Indian companies which import from Japan might benefit with this fall in the Japanese currency.

What are your views on recent quarterly results declared by India Inc. What type of earning growth do you see over next couple of years?
Q2 FY 2015 results were below expectations, both in terms of top line and bottom-line. However, the negative impact on the Sensex earnings was on account of just 2-3 companies. If you exclude these companies, the earnings growth was in line with estimates. We expect earnings to grow by around 14-15% for the current fiscal (FY 2015) and around 17-18%o over the next three years.  

What reforms according to you should be initiated by government which can take India to higher economic growth?
Successful implementation of GST can add around 1-2% to GDP as per a few estimates. Reviving the investment cycle will also provide a boost to growth as the primary reason for the slowdown over the past few years was lack of infrastructure spending/capex. The "Make In India" campaign and the focus of the new administration on ease of doing business can it-self remove/reduce the inefficiencies in the system which will help in boosting growth and investments.

What is the major risk for Indian Equity Markets?
Geo-politics will continue to be the key risk for markets not only in India but globally. The recent fall in crude oil prices benefits India as India is a net importer of oil. Any sudden rally in crude oil may negatively impact sentiments.

Which sectors do you think should do well? Which sectors should be laggards?
Financials, autos, cement and select capital goods should do well while consumer staples could continue to face pressure on valuation concerns. IT and Pharma will continue to do well over the long term.

Please give brief information on your investment processes and equity funds you manage?
We follow a mix of bottom up and top down investment strategy. Price to book (P/B) and return on equity (ROE) are a central theme to the selection process. We avoid companies which have corporate governance issues and focus on companies with a strong balance sheet, cash flows and visibility on future earnings. Growth at a reasonable price (GARP) could best describe our investment philosophy.

Please give advice to investor who feel he has missed the rally of last one year?
One thing which has been ignore by most investors is that the rally this year is on  the back of subdued returns in the past couple of years. Other EMs have also performed well this year and so India is not an exception. The markets have done well due to the improving macros and a reform focussed government. The currency continues to remain stable and inflation has also come off. Most of the negatives of the past couple of years seem to be behind us and hence the market is rewarding the improving macroeconomic environment. One should take a long term view and invest from a 2-3 years perspective.