This mid-cap mogul is winning without chasing India’s hottest stocks

During the early days of his career with Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company (AMC), Andrade managed the Kotak Midcap Fund, which laid the groundwork for his reputation as a stock picker in the mid-and-small-cap space. Later, he moved to IDFC AMC in 2005.

At IDFC, he went on to become the Chief Investment Officer (CIO). There, he built a stellar track record managing the flagship IDFC Premier Equity Fund (then the country’s most successful mid-cap fund), which compounded investor capital at roughly 22% CAGR over a decade under his tenure.

In June 2011, he was featured in Forbes India, earning the moniker “mid-cap mogul” for his exceptional track record of identifying outperforming mid-cap companies ahead of his peers. This was a time when investors and fund managers were staying away from mid-caps or selling part of their mid-cap holdings (due to the volatility in the segment) and focusing predominantly on large-caps. This made him a contrarian, commanding the reverence of a mid-cap specialist.

Later, in September 2015, after leaving IDFC AMC, Andrade founded his own investment management company, Old Bridge Capital Management, which offered portfolio management services (PMS), and in September 2023, expanded into the mutual fund business with the launch of Old Bridge Mutual Fund.

In January 2024, Old Bridge Mutual Fund launched its maiden scheme, the Old Bridge Focused Fund, and, at launch, Andrade stated that “the fund’s strategy would align with our investment philosophy, focusing on early-cycle businesses with strong leadership and growth potential. Our style has always been mid-market, so it will be more of a focused fund reliant on mid-caps.”

Old Bridge Focused Fund

Two and a half years since its inception, the scheme’s assets under management (AUM) have grown to over Rs 3,995 crore with persistent, steady inflows, with mutual fund distributors, financial advisors, and investors exuding confidence in Andrade’s (alongside dedicated co-fund manager Tarang Agrawal) wealth-creation ability with a disciplined approach.

Have investors been rewarded?

Indeed. Investors in Old Bridge Focused Fund have been rewarded impressively. Since inception, Old Bridge Focused Fund has clocked an appealing compounded average growth rate (CAGR) of 14.7% (as of 17 August 2026).

Report Card of Old Bridge Focused Fund

	Absolute			CAGR
	3 Mths (%)	6 Mths (%)	1 Yr (%)	2 Yr (%)	SI Yr (%)
Old Bridge Focused Fund	10.8	12.4	23.0	9.3	14.7
Category Median	8.4	3.2	7.5	5.3	–
BSE 500 – TRI	5.3	0.6	4.6	2.7	–

The table above shows that, so far, across time periods, the fund has outperformed its category median and the BSE 500 – Total Return Index (TRI) by a remarkable margin.

On a 1-year return, Old Bridge Focused Fund is the second-best performer, with an absolute return of 23.0%, after the Motilal Oswal Focused Fund (which has a track record of over 13 years). It has also outperformed SBI Focused Fund—the largest fund in the category—which was formerly the SBI Emerging Business Fund and was recategorised as a focused fund with effect from May 2018.

Even when compared to funds that have more or less a comparable asset size, Old Bridge Focused Fund has fared better on 1-year absolute return:

Old Bridge Focused Fund Has Raced Ahead of Some of Its Comparable Peers

Scheme Name	AUM (Rs in crore)	1-Yr Return (%)
Old Bridge Focused Fund	3,995	23.0
Invesco India Focused Fund	6,065	6.0
Kotak Focused Fund	4,457	12.5
Canara Robeco Focused Fund	2,872	1.9

What’s interesting is the appealing 1-year return posted by Old Bridge Focused, despite the Indian equity market witnessing intense volatility due to Trump 2.0 tariff tantrums and escalating geopolitical tensions.

During the period 1 January 2026 to 31 March 2026, when the markets were rattled by the war in West Asia, the net asset value (NAV) of Old Bridge Focused Fund, of course, plunged like most other equity funds. However, the drawdown was limited to -11.9% compared to -13.9% for the benchmark, BSE 500 -TRI. Also, here’s how some of the other funds in the category fared during this challenging period:

Old Bridge Focused Funds During the Challenging First Quarter of 2026

Scheme Name	Return (%) – 1-Jan-26 to 31-Mar-26
Old Bridge Focused Fund	-11.9
Invesco India Focused Fund	-14.3
Canara Robeco Focused Fund	-13.8
ITI Focused Fund	-12.1
Kotak Focused Fund	-11.8
SBI Focused Fund	-11.5
Motilal Oswal Focused Fund	-10.8

The key reason why Old Bridge Focused Fund’s NAV fell less is that Andrade maintained cash & cash equivalents in the range of 10-17% in Q1 2026.

Moreover, instead of holding high-flying, expensive, growth and momentum names, Andrade focused on holding value and cash-flow-dense businesses with reasonable valuations. The core portfolio holdings included defensive and value-oriented plays such as Aurobindo Pharma, Maruti Suzuki, Shriram Finance, Bharti Airtel, and Redington. Thus, when markets were rattled in Q1 2026, and profit-booking hit broader small- and mid-cap indices, the fund’s 39-46% large-cap allocation provided structural resilience.

In the ensuing four months or so, i.e., 1 April 2026 to 14 August 2026, Old Bridge Focused Fund has gained 25.0%, while the BSE 500 – TRI gained 15.5%. The other peers in the category during this period have fared as follows:

Performance of Peers During the Recovery Phase from 1 April 2026

Scheme Name	Return (%) – 1-Apr-26 to 14-Aug-26
Motilal Oswal Focused Fund	34.3
Invesco India Focused Fund	30.2
ITI Focused Fund	21.3
SBI Focused Fund	19.7
Kotak Focused Fund	18.5
Canara Robeco Focused Fund	14.6

Andrade’s cash allocation of 8-15% in the Old Bridge Focused Fund during this period, along with his value-conscious approach, was the main reason for its slower returns relative to the Motilal Oswal Focused Fund (which followed a high-growth, momentum approach).

That said, Old Bridge Focused registered 25% absolute returns with heavy allocation toward large-cap value and specialised mid-caps, while Motilal Oswal Focused Fund’s portfolio benefited from cyclical outperformance in select high-conviction mid-cap positions (such as industrial/capital goods and specialised finance names) that bounced back quicker from their mid-year troughs.

If we assess on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, i.e. from 1 January 2026 to 14 August 2026, Old Bridge Focused Fund has delivered a decent 10.1% absolute return, while the BSE 250 SmallCap – TRI has posted a negative 0.7% return. Here’s how some of its other peers have fared on a YTD basis:

YTD Performance of Peers

Scheme Name	YTD Returns 2026 (%)
Motilal Oswal Focused Fund	20.7
Invesco India Focused Fund	11.3
ITI Focused Fund	6.5
SBI Focused Fund	5.9
Kotak Focused Fund	3.8
Canara Robeco Focused Fund	-1.5

Andrade’s pragmatic approach to cash allocation has muted the YTD returns of the Old Bridge Focused Fund, but it has proven to have protected downside risk well. The value-oriented holdings saw steady but more measured price appreciation, compared to Motilal Oswal Focused’s portfolio, which is largely in high-growth mid-cap and momentum stocks.

Over a 2-year period, the Old Bridge Focused Fund has clocked a decent 9.3% CAGR, outperforming the category median and the BSE 500 – TRI by a respectable margin.

What’s driving the performance of the Old Bridge Focused Fund?

It is mainly the discipline backed by an investment philosophy that focuses on identifying businesses early in the cycle and on companies with the potential to be dominant in their industry. Here’s what Andrade’s Old Bridge Mutual Fund looks for when picking stocks:

Low debt and high capital-efficient businesses with low valuations or “out of favour businesses” (where the stock reflects its depressed earnings) are some of the financial parameters that form the key selection criteria of companies in this portfolio. The fund is conscious of the margin of safety.

The strategy revolves around a buy-and-hold approach, yet strict discipline in timing buy and sell decisions is maintained.

Will Old Bridge Focused Fund continue to perform well in the future?

With investment discipline and a process-driven approach, Old Bridge Focused Fund, under Andrade and his colleague, Agrawal, is potentially likely to continue creating wealth for its investors, in line with its mandate to invest in up to 30 stocks (a focused approach).

Currently, with 24 stocks in its portfolio, the fund follows a blend style – a mix of value and growth – sensibly sifting through investment opportunities. That being said, the price-to-equity (PE) and price-to-book (PB) ratios of around 13x and 3x, respectively, largely indicate the fund’s value-conscious approach.

At present, the fund has allocated nearly 43% of its assets to large caps, 34% to small-caps, and around 15% to mid-caps. Such allocation is expected to provide Old Bridge Focused Fund with resilience while not missing out on the high wealth-creation potential of small- and mid-caps (SMIDS), with approximately 49% allocated to them.

The top 10 stocks account for 54.2% of the portfolio and include names such as Shriram Finance, Redington, Aurobindo Pharma, etc. Over the past year, the fund’s portfolio turnover ratio has been 19%, which means that, rather than churning the portfolio in response to short-term news flow and momentum, Andrade and his co-fund manager have held on to positions to allow the underlying business thesis to play out.

Holding a tight portfolio of 24 high-conviction stocks (capped at 30) allows stock-picking alpha to meaningfully drive NAV growth rather than being diluted by minor positions.

Maintaining cash & cash equivalents, currently at around 8%, provides Andrade and his colleague with liquidity to deploy capital selectively during market dips without panic selling existing core positions.

Is Old Bridge Focused Fund a good fit for your portfolio?

You may consider adding Old Bridge Focused Fund to your 2026 watchlist, provided you don’t mind a scheme with a concentrated portfolio, have a very high-risk appetite, and an investment horizon of at least 5 years. This is because value and contrarian bets usually take a longer period for their underlying business earnings to play out and for the broader market to re-rate the stock’s valuation.

Make sure your allocation to focused funds is not skewed. Invest sensibly based on the allocation that best suits you.

Happy investing!

Note: We have relied on data from www.valueresearchonline.com, www.financialexpress.com, and the factsheets published by the respective fund houses throughout this article. Only in cases where the data was not available, have we used an alternate but widely used and accepted source of information. 

Returns data as of 14 August 2026. Direct Plan and Growth Option Considered.

Standard Deviation is a measure of the total volatility of the fund. The Sharpe Ratio is a measure of risk-adjusted return that shows how much excess return an investment generates for each unit of risk taken.

Portfolio data as of 31 July 2026. The average price-to-book value ratio and price-to-equity ratio of all underlying stock holdings, weighted by their portfolio weights, are considered.

Disclaimer:

Disclaimer: The above content is for informational purposes only. Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks. Past returns are not indicative of future returns. Please consult your financial advisor before investing.

Rounaq Neroy has over 20 years of experience in the financial markets and investments. He is a close observer of the Indian economy and writes deeply on the capital markets, mutual funds, stocks, precious metals, asset allocation, wealth management, and investment strategy. His editorials provide interesting, actionable investment ideas to guide readers in the journey of wealth creation and make wise decisions. Rounaq was the Head of Content at PersonalFN (Quantum Information Services Pvt. Ltd.), which also owns Equitymaster.com – India’s oldest and trusted equity research house.