Portfolio Management Services · SEBI Regulated

Planning to Invest in PMS? Here's How to Find the Right Scheme for You.

Buying a PMS via SEBI RIA can save you Rs 50K-1L per year on hidden commission charged by distributors

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— The Comparison

PMS vs Mutual Funds — which is right for you?

Both are valid investment vehicles. The right choice depends entirely on your corpus, goals, and risk tolerance — not on what sounds more impressive.

Mutual Funds

  • ✓

    Start with ₹500 via SIP

    No minimum corpus required. Accessible to investors at any stage of wealth-building.

  • ✓

    Highly diversified by default

    Most equity funds hold 50–100 stocks. Instant diversification significantly reduces single-stock risk.

  • ✓

    Simple, liquid, widely understood

    Easy to invest, exit, and compare. NAV-based daily pricing and strong SEBI oversight.

  • ✕

    Pooled product — no direct ownership

    You own units of a fund, not the underlying stocks. Limited transparency into daily holdings.

  • ✕

    Manager constrained by AUM size

    Large AUM forces diversification. The manager can't be as decisive as a PMS manager with a focused, smaller corpus.

  • ✕

    Limited personalisation to your situation

    The same fund is bought by millions of investors. Your tax position, concentration, or specific goals are irrelevant to its construction.

Portfolio Management Services

  • ✓

    Direct stock ownership in your demat

    Securities are held in your own demat account, in your name. Full legal ownership — not fund units.

  • ✓

    Personalised to your corpus and risk profile

    The portfolio manager can align strategy specifically to your situation, time horizon, and goals.

  • ✓

    Full transparency — every trade, every holding

    You receive transaction-level reporting. Every buy, every sell, every holding — visible in real time.

  • ✕

    ₹50L minimum required

    SEBI mandates a minimum investment of ₹50 lakh. Not accessible for investors below this threshold.

  • ✕

    Higher fees than index funds

    Management fees of 1–2.5% p.a. plus potential performance fees make PMS significantly more expensive than passive alternatives.

  • ✕

    Higher risk — concentrated portfolios

    Most PMS strategies hold 15–30 stocks. Higher concentration means higher potential upside — and steeper potential drawdowns.

The right choice depends on your corpus, goals, and risk tolerance. Your Foliyo advisor will tell you honestly whether PMS adds value for your specific situation — or whether you'd be better served by something else.

— The Conflict of Interest

Whose interests does your PMS distributor put first?

The person recommending a PMS strategy to you may be paid by the PMS house — not by you.

PMS Distributor / Relationship Manager

  • ✕

    "Free" PMS Advisory Earns Commission

    "Free" PMS advisory typically earns 1–2% upfront distribution commission from the PMS house — paid directly from your corpus at the time of investment.

  • ✕

    Incentivised to Sell the Highest-Commission Strategy

    Distributors are financially incentivised to recommend strategies that pay the most distribution commission, not the strategies best suited to your situation.

  • ✕

    No Legal Duty to Act in Your Interest

    Distributors are not fiduciaries. They carry no legal obligation to recommend what's right for you — only what they're authorised to sell.

  • ✕

    Will Rarely Tell You PMS Is Wrong for You

    Telling you PMS is unsuitable costs them the sale. That conversation almost never happens with a distributor.

Foliyo SEBI-Registered RIA (INA000023454)

  • ✓

    Your Save Rs 50K-1L per year

    Zero commission from any PMS house, and even post RIA fee you save Rs 50K-1L per year

  • ✓

    Zero Commission from Any PMS House

    No financial incentive to recommend one PMS strategy over another. Every recommendation is based solely on your needs and risk profile.

  • ✓

    Legally Bound by SEBI RIA Regulations

    SEBI RIA regulations require fiduciary conduct at all times — your advisor must act in your best interest and disclose all conflicts of interest.

  • ✓

    Will Tell You If PMS Is Wrong for You

    A fee-only advisor has no financial incentive to push you into PMS. If it's not right for your situation, they'll say so — and tell you what is.

— What You Get

Your RIA Advisor is your Family's Chief Financial Officer.

Advice, allocation, and execution across every dimension of your wealth.

Yearly Retainer · No Commissions · One Annual Fee
✓
PMS Portfolio Advisory Expert advice on selecting the right PMS scheme for your corpus.
✓
Investment Advice Mutual Funds, Stocks & Bonds alongside your PMS portfolio.
✓
Market-Signal Rebalancing Ongoing adjustments based on market conditions and valuations.
✓
AIF & Alternative Investments Alternative Investment Funds for deeper portfolio diversification.
✓
US & Global Market Investing International exposure to complement your domestic PMS.
✓
Pre-IPO & Unlisted Stocks Curated access to unlisted companies before they list publicly.
✓
Family Tax Filing ITR for your family, aligned with PMS gains and STCG/LTCG treatment.
✓
Active Wealth Monitoring Year-round oversight of your full financial picture.
— The Process

Get the right PMS advice in four simple steps.

Share your goals and book a free intro call with a Foliyo advisor — without spam or commitment.

01

Share your Goals

Tell us your goals, income, city, and current advisory setup.

02

AI-Assisted Advice

We prepare advice suited to your goals and corpus.

03

Free Discovery Call

Schedule a free 30-minute call with a Foliyo advisor to evaluate a mutual fit.

04

Hire With Confidence

Engage Foliyo on a transparent flat fee once you're confident.

— Direct Advisory

Direct, fiduciary advice from Foliyo's SEBI RIA team.

Sachin Kabra
Sachin Kabra
Co-founder, Foliyo
Advisory DeskFoliyo Direct RIA
Backgroundex-Director HDFC Wealth
Model100% Fee-Only
SEBI RegINA000023454

"Most investors evaluating a PMS haven't analyzed whether the strategy actually generates genuine alpha over a simple low-cost direct index. We audit track records across market cycles and unmask true risk-adjusted performance."

Unbiased PMS Due Diligence Alpha Verification Style Drift Audit Concentration Risk Direct Plans Only
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— Stories of people who got proper PMS advice

What happens when advice is truly yours.

I was about to put ₹75L into a PMS my bank RM recommended. My Foliyo advisor read the disclosure document with me — the hurdle rate was set at 0%, which meant I was paying performance fees even on market-matching returns. We found a better-structured strategy instead.

A
Amit Gupta
Senior Financial Analyst, Mumbai
₹3.2L saved
est. perf. fee saved, Year 1

I had ₹60L ready but my advisor told me I wasn't ready for PMS yet — my emergency fund and term insurance weren't in place. That kind of honest advice is what I'd been missing for years.

A
Ashish Gangwar
Product Director, Bangalore
6 months
to get foundations right first

Three PMS strategies looked identical on paper. My advisor broke down the actual portfolio composition, turnover ratios, and drawdown history. The decision became obvious.

C
Chhaya Sharma
VP Engineering, Bangalore
₹1.2Cr
corpus in a matched strategy
— Understand the Charges

PMS fees are more complex than mutual funds.
Here's what you need to know.

Every PMS must disclose its fee structure in its PPM (Portfolio Management Programme document). Read it before you invest.

What you always pay

Fixed Management Fee

A flat annual fee charged on your corpus — typically 1% to 2.5% per year, debited from your account quarterly regardless of how the portfolio performs. This is equivalent to the expense ratio in a mutual fund, but charged directly and disclosed transparently. On a ₹1Cr corpus at 1.5% p.a., you pay ₹1.5L per year in management fees — every year, whether the market is up or down.

What you pay if the manager outperforms

Performance Fee (Profit Sharing)

Many PMS strategies also charge a performance fee — typically 10% to 20% of profits above a set threshold. This is designed to align the manager's incentives with yours: they only earn extra when you're earning meaningfully above a benchmark. However, the details matter — the hurdle rate and high-watermark provisions determine whether this alignment is genuine or cosmetic.

The minimum return before performance fees kick in

Hurdle Rate

The hurdle rate is the minimum return the portfolio manager must deliver before charging you any performance fee. If the hurdle rate is 10% and your portfolio returns 8%, you pay zero performance fee. If it returns 15%, the performance fee applies only to the 5% above 10%. A higher hurdle rate protects you — it means the manager must genuinely outperform before earning extra compensation. Always ask for this number before committing to any PMS.

Protection against paying twice for the same gains

High-Watermark

The high-watermark clause ensures you never pay a performance fee on profits you've already paid for. If your portfolio was at ₹1.2Cr at year-end and then fell to ₹1Cr, the manager must first recover above ₹1.2Cr before charging a new performance fee. This protects you from paying fees during recovery periods. Not every PMS includes this provision — it's something your advisor will specifically check before recommending a strategy.

Not every PMS discloses these clearly upfront. A fee-only RIA will read the disclosure document with you, explain what you're actually paying, and tell you whether the fee structure is fair for the strategy on offer.

New to PMS? Read the PMS explainer, then compare live strategies in the PMS rankings.

— Built by Institutional Wealth Managers

Deep Wealth Management and Finance experience.

The Foliyo team has decades of experience in wealth management for HNIs and building technology products for the world.

Sachin Kabra
Sachin Kabra
Mohan Gupta
Mohan Gupta

Co-founders

Previously at

HDFC Private Wealth Motilal Oswal Facebook Flipkart
— Common Questions

Common questions about PMS

Real questions from Indian investors, answered by SEBI-registered investment advisers.

KKaran Kumar from Mumbai
Should I consider getting a PMS for my growth portfolio or continue with Mutual Funds?

35, with ₹2 crore mostly in Indian mutual funds. Should some of it go into a high-growth PMS, or should I stay with funds?

Read More »
UUday from Noida
I have ₹50 lakh. Does that mean I should invest in a PMS?

₹50 lakh is the PMS minimum. If I have that amount, does that make PMS suitable for me?

Read More »
NNiti from Mumbai
How should I compare PMS returns with mutual fund returns after fees and taxes?

Are PMS brochure returns directly comparable with mutual fund returns once fees, churn and taxes are counted?

Read More »
AAnoop Dixit from Pune
Why can a PMS outperform strongly for a few years and then suddenly underperform?

PMS products are marketed on strong 3- and 5-year returns. Was that manager skill or just a style in favour?

Read More »
RRohan from Delhi
My portfolio just crossed Rs 1.8 Cr. Should I move Rs 50L to a PMS or try these new SIFs?

My mutual fund corpus just crossed ₹1.8 crore. Should ₹50 lakh go into a PMS, or into the new SIFs?

Read More »
— Begin Here

Your wealth. Your PMS choice. Your terms.

Foliyo's SEBI-registered RIA team will tell you honestly whether PMS is right for you — and if so, which strategy fits your goals. The intro call is free. You talk directly with our advisory desk within 24 hours. There is no commitment.

Talk to Foliyo →
✓ SEBI Registered RIA (INA000023454) ✓ Zero Product Commission ✓ Free 30-Min Intro Call ✓ No Spam, Ever