Manu Rishi Guptha
Founder, chief executive and sole named fund manager of MRG Capital, a small Bengaluru portfolio manager whose SEBI licence dates from November 2018. Attribution here is unusually clean — APMI names him individually on all three of the firm's approaches — but the book is tiny, and ITC Ltd has a ₹100 crore civil defamation suit pending against him in the Calcutta High Court.
Is Manu worth your time?
An unusual route into fund management. Guptha spent close to three decades in hospitality, most visibly as chief executive of Niraamaya Retreats, and invested for family and friends alongside that career before taking MRG Investment Partners' portfolio-manager licence in November 2018. That distinction matters: the firm markets long investing experience, but the regulated record starts in 2018 and runs about seven and a half years. What the record does offer is rare clarity of attribution — APMI names him individually as fund manager on Wealth Maximizer, Wealth Enhancer and Wealth Protector, with no co-manager. Two things to hold in view before anything else: the book is very small, and the firm's own SEBI filing discloses a ₹100 crore defamation suit brought against him by ITC Ltd.
Investors who specifically want a single, identifiable decision-maker rather than a committee, and who can verify that claim independently — this is one of the few Indian PMS profiles where the regulator's own register names one person on every approach with no co-manager. It suits someone investing a small allocation, comfortable with a boutique operation and a licence that is only about seven years old, and willing to do the work of asking for dated figures rather than accepting marketing language. It does not suit anyone who needs published factsheets, a long regulated record, or a clean litigation page.
- ITC Ltd has a ₹100 crore civil defamation suit pending against him in the Calcutta High Court over a 2021 blog post.
- The book is very small — his three approaches total about ₹40 crore on APMI as of 31 July 2026.
- His regulated fund-management record starts with the November 2018 licence, not the 25-plus years the firm markets.
- Published AUM figures disagree materially across APMI, third-party platforms and the firm's own filing.
About Manu Rishi Guptha
Manu Rishi Guptha is the founder, chief executive and principal officer of MRG Investment Partners Private Limited, which trades as MRG Capital and holds SEBI portfolio-manager registration INP000006253. He works from Whitefield, Bengaluru, and APMI records him as the sole named fund manager on all three of the firm's investment approaches.
He holds an MBA in finance from Warwick Business School in the United Kingdom, where he also won the school's Best MBA Citizen award. His executive career was not in finance. He spent roughly twenty-seven years in hospitality, most visibly as chief executive of Niraamaya Retreats and earlier in general management at Ashiana Housing and Assam Bengal Navigation, investing for family and friends alongside that career. He writes publicly on finance, leadership and philosophy — the habit that produced the ITC litigation.
Career
- Nov 2018 – present
Founder, CEO and Principal Officer, MRG Investment Partners Private Limited (MRG Capital)
SEBI-registered portfolio manager INP000006253, with a Category III AIF registration added later. APMI names him individually as fund manager on all three approaches as of 31 July 2026.
- before 2018
Chief Executive Officer, Niraamaya Retreats
The most senior of his hospitality roles, running a luxury wellness resort and spa group. He spoke and wrote publicly on the sector during this period.
- earlier
General Manager, Head of Hospitality Division, Ashiana Housing
One of roughly twenty-seven years spent in top management roles in hospitality rather than in financial services.
- earlier
General Manager, Assam Bengal Navigation
River cruising and travel — part of the same pre-finance phase of his career.
- alongside
Private investor for family and friends
The firm dates its investing lineage to 1992. This was personal and family investing conducted alongside a hospitality career, not regulated fund management.
Six principles
Capital protection before outperformance
The firm states its purpose as protecting and growing capital over time rather than chasing a relentless need to beat other funds or indices. That ordering is the house's defining choice.
Value over hype
Value investing is named as the first principle, framed explicitly as avoiding whatever the market is currently excited about.
Management character as a primary filter
Guptha treats the quality and character of the people running a business as a screening criterion in its own right, not as a qualitative footnote to the numbers.
Goals-based rather than benchmark-based
Portfolios are positioned against what the investor needs. The three approaches are separated by risk appetite — Maximizer, Enhancer, Protector — rather than by three different philosophies.
Balance across cycles
He describes the work as striking a balance between risk and reward having been through multiple market cycles personally, which is a statement about temperament as much as method.
Transparency as a stated obligation
Transparency is named as one of the four principles. Investors can reasonably test that claim against the absence of published factsheets and a disclosure document dated 2023.
The call that shows the method working
Rare attribution clarity — on a very small book
Most Indian PMS profiles struggle to establish who actually decides. This one does not. The Association of Portfolio Managers in India, the SEBI-recognised body for the industry, records Manu Rishi Guptha as the named fund manager of all three MRG approaches — Wealth Maximizer, Wealth Enhancer and Wealth Protector — as of 31 July 2026, with no co-manager on any of them. The firm's own SEBI-filed disclosure document names him individually as fund manager for the same three strategies. Attribution this unambiguous is uncommon.
What the register also shows is scale, and it is small. The three approaches together carry about ₹40 crore, with Wealth Protector at under ₹1 crore. The licence dates from November 2018 and the earliest approach from May 2019, so the regulated record runs roughly seven years — not the twenty-five or thirty years the firm's own pages variously claim, which describe a hospitality career and private family investing running alongside it.
- roughly 27 yearsTop management roles in hospitality, including chief executive of Niraamaya Retreats — not financial services
- 16 Nov 2018MRG Investment Partners takes its SEBI portfolio-manager licence, INP000006253 — where the regulated record begins
- 17 May 2019Wealth Maximizer inception, the earliest of the three approaches
- 24 May 2019Wealth Enhancer inception — the largest of the three
- 31 Dec 2019Wealth Protector inception
- Jul 2021ITC Ltd files a ₹100 crore defamation suit against him in the Calcutta High Court over a blog post
- 15 Jul 2023Firm's disclosure document names him as fund manager on all three strategies and discloses the ITC suit
- 31 Jul 2026APMI records him as sole named fund manager on all three approaches
How the strategies have performed
Trailing returns, net of fees, annualised beyond one year. Shown only when sourced and dated; missing figures are unavailable, never zero.
| Strategy | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | Since inception |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRG Capital - Wealth Maximizer | +7.65% | +17.26% | +11.74% | +12.71% |
| MRG Capital - Wealth Protector | +4.99% | +12.55% | +10.38% | +13.25% |
| MRG Capital - Wealth Enhancer | +7.46% | +15.86% | +10.43% | +11.72% |
Your return will not be the headline number. This is the spread of Manu's 3 tracked strategies' 3-year CAGR. Which strategy you hold, and when you invested, both move your outcome. Strategy-level dispersion, not a record of individual client accounts.
Figures are historical, unaudited and third-party reported, as of 2026-06-30. Past performance is not indicative of future returns.
What to press Manu on
Bring these to the call.
Where has the ITC suit got to?
The firm's 2023 disclosure document recorded no progress. Ask for the current status in writing, whether any interim order restrains his public writing, and what the firm's indemnity position is if damages were ever awarded.
Which experience number applies to your money?
The firm's pages claim twenty-five-plus and thirty-plus years; APMI records twenty-eight. Ask specifically how many years he has managed regulated third-party money. The licence date of November 2018 is the honest starting line.
What is the real, dated AUM?
APMI shows about ₹40 crore across three approaches; third-party platforms show ₹73.94 crore. Ask for a dated AUM and client count per approach, and ask why the APMI figures match the 2023 disclosure document exactly.
Where is the current documentation?
The latest publicly posted disclosure document is dated July 2023 and is a scanned image. Ask for the current disclosure document as a readable file, plus recent factsheets — the firm does not publish them.
What happens without him?
He is founder, chief executive, principal officer and sole named fund manager on every approach. There is no co-manager. Ask what the succession and business-continuity arrangements are, in writing.
What are the actual fees?
APMI records fixed fees, variable fees and exit load as 'NA' for all three approaches. Ask for the fixed rate, the performance fee and hurdle, high-water-mark treatment and exit load for the specific approach on your form.
How do the three approaches actually differ?
All three are equity, multi-cap and benchmarked to the Nifty 50 TRI, and are separated by risk label rather than by mandate. Ask for current holdings for each and the overlap between them before you assume you are diversifying.
How they compare
Comparable managers on the platform, by asset class and category · live fund figures.
| Manager | 1Y | 3Y | AUM | Nyra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rajeev Bajaj Systamatix - Dynamic Investment · PMS | +18.2% | +23.6% | ₹158.52 Cr | 8.4 |
| Madanagopal Ramu Sundaram Alternate - VOYAGER · PMS | +28% | +23.1% | ₹0 Cr | 8.3 |
| PAWAN KUMAR Shade - Value Fund · PMS | +14.9% | +23.7% | ₹0 Cr | 8.2 |
| Sameer Shah ValueQuest - Growth · PMS | +18.7% | +19.4% | ₹2,019.95 Cr | 8.2 |
Manu Rishi Guptha · FAQ
What does Manu Rishi Guptha manage?
How long has he actually been running regulated money?
Was his career in finance?
What is the ITC litigation?
How large is the business?
What is the minimum investment, and what are the fees?
Considering Manu's strategy?
We'll pull the current Disclosure Document, the actual fee schedule, and a portfolio-overlap check against what you already own.
PMS Sahi Hai is a distributor (APMI Reg. APRN08358), not a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser. APMI registration does not constitute an endorsement. We are paid by the product manufacturer; this does not change the price you pay. PMS & AIF investments are subject to market risks; past performance is not indicative of future returns. This is not investment advice. PMS Sahi Hai is an independent marketplace and is not affiliated with Manu Rishi Guptha.