What it is

Portfolio Management Services means a portfolio built and managed for you individually by a SEBI-registered portfolio manager. Unlike a mutual fund, your money is not pooled — the securities are held in your own demat account, in your own name.

That direct ownership is the structural difference. You can see exactly which shares you hold and at what cost.

Who regulates it

SEBI regulates portfolio managers under the SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2020. A portfolio manager must be registered with SEBI, issue a Disclosure Document, and sign a formal agreement with each client.

APMI, the Association of Portfolio Managers in India, is the industry body. Portfolio managers submit monthly reports to APMI, which publishes them to allow comparison at portfolio, investment-approach and manager level. APMI also issues the APRN a PMS distributor must hold. Nidhish Investments distributes PMS under APRN-10163.

How it works

You choose a portfolio manager and one of its declared Investment Approaches — the documented philosophy it will follow.
You sign a PMS agreement and receive the Disclosure Document before investing.
The minimum investment is ₹50 lakh, prescribed by SEBI.
A demat account is opened in your name and the securities are held there directly.
In a discretionary mandate the manager transacts without asking each time. In a non-discretionary mandate the manager recommends and you approve.
Performance is reported as time-weighted rate of return alongside the chosen benchmark, and disclosed to APMI monthly.
Fees may be fixed, performance-linked, or a combination. Performance fees are normally subject to a high water mark.

What it invests in

SEBI requires each Investment Approach to be tagged to a single strategy:

Equity — typically concentrated portfolios of 15 to 30 stocks.
Debt — bonds and fixed income instruments.
Hybrid — a mix of equity and debt.
Multi-asset — spread across several asset classes.

Portfolios are usually far more concentrated than a mutual fund, which is the source of both the opportunity and the risk.

Past performance

On past performance

We deliberately do not publish return figures on this website. Performance changes daily, and how a distributor may present it is governed by regulation. Use the official sources listed alongside, and always read the offer document before investing.

For PMS specifically, APMI publishes monthly disclosures that let you compare investment approaches on a consistent basis. That is a better starting point than any figure quoted in marketing material, including ours.

Who it suits

Investors with ₹50 lakh or more to commit to a single strategy.
Those who want to own securities directly rather than hold units in a pool.
Investors comfortable with concentration, and with the sharper swings that follow from it.
People who want transparency into every holding and transaction in their portfolio.

Risks to understand

Concentrated portfolios can fall much harder than a diversified fund when the manager's view is wrong.
Liquidity is lower. Exiting a PMS takes longer than redeeming a mutual fund.
Fee structures are more complex, and performance fees can be material. Read the fee schedule carefully.
Because holdings sit in your own demat account, taxation is triggered by each transaction the manager makes. Consult your tax professional.
Manager selection matters far more here than in a diversified fund.