Swati Kulkarni India’s first woman fund manager opts for retirement after a three-decade-long career

Notable for her ‘growth at a reasonable price investment style she prefers companies with a ‘competitive franchise’

After spending over three decades in the Indian mutual fund industry, Swati Kulkarni, the former Executive Vice President and Fund Manager – Equity at UTI AMC, retired in November. 

During her three-decade-long career, she witnessed many market ups and downs. Addressing the challenging phase of her tenure, she recalls the May 2009 election result day when the markets went up by 19% in a single day. “Given the post-global financial crisis scenario and the fact that the markets had already gone up a lot, we hadn’t deployed all the cash we held. This was a drag when the markets went up. Despite the drag, we chose not to chase momentum stocks and focused on stock selection. So, that was a big learning experience” says Kulkarni. 

 She states that Challenges occur when thought experiments don’t yield out well, and in such times she prefers to re-examine her investment rationale and portfolio strategies instead of reacting to the following market trends.

  She found work satisfaction in the opportunity to constantly keep learning

 “There is so much to learn about new business models, strategies, etc. Also, you are participating in the wealth creation journey of your investors and that is very satisfying,” says Kulkarni.

“Calm and collected through euphoria and despair – she is an asset in any team. She is not just a good Fund Manager, but is a good friend, colleague, and mentor to those around her,” says Vetri Subramaniam- her former colleague, and CIO, of UTI AMC.

Staff reporter