Sunil Kothari
A Chartered Accountant who spent the better part of three decades in Indian public markets before co-founding Unique Asset Management in 2019, and who runs the firm's larger book, the Unique Strategic Fund. The strategy asks for ₹1 crore — twice SEBI's floor — and charges no exit load. The performance data our platform holds for it comes from a factsheet dated 31 January 2025.
Is Sunil worth your time?
A co-founder of a small Mumbai boutique. Kothari is a Chartered Accountant and a co-founder of Unique Asset Management LLP, which SEBI registered as a portfolio manager on 5 August 2019 under INP000006855. He manages the Unique Strategic Fund, live since 20 December 2019, which APMI records as the larger of the firm's two approaches at roughly three-quarters of the house book. The firm describes him as an investor of over three decades who has seen multiple market and business cycles since the 1990s, and as a believer in value investing specialising in mid- and small-cap companies. Two things to hold in view before the numbers: our own performance data for this strategy is materially older than for the other managers on this site, and the firm's Principal Officer is his co-founder, not him.
Investors with at least ₹1 crore to commit who want a mid- and small-cap value book run by a named partner at a small firm, and who will judge it over the five-to-seven-year horizon the firm itself asks for. The absence of an exit load is a genuine point in its favour: the money is not locked, so the horizon is a request rather than a penalty. The firm's January 2026 disclosure document is published on its website and names him as the Strategic Fund's manager, so the regulatory paper trail is there to read. If you need current, independently comparable performance today, wait until you have the latest factsheet in hand.
- Our performance data for this strategy comes from a factsheet dated 31 January 2025, so the returns shown lag the market.
- The minimum is ₹1 crore — twice SEBI's floor and twice what most managers here ask.
- The firm publishes no factsheets, and its disclosure document describes both of its funds in identical wording.
- It is a small firm built around two fund managers, and the Principal Officer is his co-founder, who runs the other fund.
About Sunil Kothari
Sunil Kothari is a partner and fund manager at Unique Asset Management LLP, the Mumbai portfolio manager he co-founded with Ketan Gopani and which SEBI registered on 5 August 2019 under INP000006855. He manages the Unique Strategic Fund, one of the firm's two approaches, which APMI records as running since 20 December 2019 against a BSE 500 TRI benchmark.
He is a Chartered Accountant. The firm describes him as having investing experience of over three decades, having seen multiple market and business cycles since the 1990s, and as a strong believer in the school of value investing, specialising in mid- and small-cap companies. Independent PMS platforms add that before Unique he was a partner at Unique Investment Consultancy and worked as a sub-broker for around two decades.
Career
- 2019 – present
Partner and Fund Manager, Unique Asset Management LLP
Co-founded the firm with Ketan Gopani; manages the Unique Strategic Fund. APMI names him as the strategy's fund manager as of 31 July 2026.
- before 2019
Partner, Unique Investment Consultancy
The broking and consultancy partnership that preceded the PMS. Reported by third-party PMS platforms rather than stated on the firm's own website; exact dates are not publicly disclosed.
- earlier
Sub-broker in Indian equity markets
Described by one PMS data platform as a sub-broker role of over two decades. Not confirmed on the firm's own site.
- from the 1990s
Investing in Indian public markets
The firm dates his investing experience to the 1990s and describes it as covering multiple market and business cycles.
Six principles
Permanent loss, not volatility
The firm names the risk it is actually managing: the chance of not getting the capital back, rather than the size of the swings on the way.
Competence and integrity in management
The first of the four house pillars, applied to the people running the business before the numbers the business reports.
Margin of safety
Kothari's stated specialism is mid- and small-cap companies trading at or below what he judges fair value — the price discipline behind the value label.
Five to seven years, minimum
The stated horizon is not a suggestion; it is how the firm says it decides what to buy. No exit load backs it, so investors are held to it by agreement rather than by cost.
In-house research, no model portfolios
The firm says it identifies, invests, monitors and exits on its own research, and explicitly declines to run one model portfolio across all clients — building instead around each investor's entry point, capital, age and risk appetite.
Partners invested alongside clients
Unique states on APMI that it invests all of its own funds in the same strategy as its clients. Worth asking to see evidenced.
The call that shows the method working
Confirmed on the register — and what we could not read
The Association of Portfolio Managers in India, the SEBI-recognised self-regulatory body for the PMS industry, records Sunil Kothari as the fund manager of the Unique Strategic Fund as of 31 July 2026, with the strategy's inception at 20 December 2019 and a BSE 500 TRI benchmark. APMI's own register of portfolio managers confirms Unique Asset Management LLP's SEBI registration number, INP000006855, and its registration date of 5 August 2019. APMI also carries the commercial terms in full — the ₹1 crore minimum, both fee options and the absence of an exit load — which is more disclosure than many managers put in public.
The firm's own SEBI disclosure document, dated 13 January 2026 and published at uniquepms.com, goes further than APMI does. It names the two managers individually — "Unique Focused Fund — Fund Manager: Mr. Ketan Gopani" and "Unique Strategic Fund — Fund Manager: Mr. Sunil Kothari" — which is per-approach attribution in the regulatory filing itself, a stronger class of evidence than an industry-body listing. It records nil penalties and no pending litigation, and discloses that the firm's Debt Fund closed with effect from 7 January 2026, leaving two approaches. Two caveats sit alongside that: the document describes both funds in word-for-word identical language, so it does not differentiate their mandates, and it carries a copy-paste error naming "Sunil Kothari Gopani" as a Chartered Accountant.
- from the 1990sBegins investing in Indian public markets; later a partner at Unique Investment Consultancy
- 2019Co-founds Unique Asset Management LLP in Mumbai with Ketan Gopani
- 5 Aug 2019SEBI grants the firm portfolio-manager registration INP000006855
- 20 Dec 2019Unique Strategic Fund inception, per APMI
- 31 Jan 2025Date of the factsheet behind the performance data our platform holds for this strategy
- 31 Mar 2026APMI records the firm at 776 clients and ₹2,324.84 crore across both approaches
- 31 Jul 2026APMI records him as the Strategic Fund's fund manager
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unique - Strategic Fund | +18.15% | +29.86% | +34.17% | +35.9% |
Your return will not be a single number. These are the strategy's trailing returns over different holding periods: up to one year absolute, beyond one year annualised. Your own outcome depends on when you invested; this is 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 Sunil on
Bring these to the call.
How old is the record you are being shown?
Our figures for this strategy come from a 31 January 2025 factsheet. Ask the firm for the current dated factsheet and the monthly series since then, and do not compare our displayed returns against a more recently updated manager.
Read the January 2026 disclosure document
It is published at uniquepms.com and names Kothari as the Strategic Fund's manager. Read its penalties, pending-litigation and fee sections, and ask why the document describes both funds in identical language.
Value or growth — which is it?
The firm calls him a value investor and lists the Strategic Fund's style as growth-oriented bottom-up. Ask for the current cap-mix, the valuation bands the fund works within, and two or three examples of positions rejected on price.
Which fee option are you on?
APMI lists a 1.5% fixed plan and a 0.75% plan with a 20% performance fee above an 8% hurdle. Ask which applies to you, how the hurdle is calculated, and whether a high-water mark is used.
Why ₹1 crore?
The minimum is double SEBI's floor. Ask what the firm does with that threshold — whether it reflects customised portfolio construction, capacity management, or simply client selection — and whether it is negotiable.
What happens if one partner leaves?
Two named managers run one fund each, supported by a small research team; the Principal Officer is the other partner. Ask who would manage the Strategic Fund if Kothari were unavailable, and how clients would be told.
What does 'no model portfolio' mean for you?
The firm says it builds around each investor's entry point, capital, age and risk appetite. Ask how that affects your holdings versus the headline strategy, and how your account's return could differ from the published one.
How they compare
Comparable managers on the platform, by asset class and category · live fund figures.
| Manager | 1Y | 3Y | AUM | Nyra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anubhav Mukherjee Prescientcap-HIGH QUALITY CONSISTENT COMPOUNDERS · PMS | +14.7% | +19.7% | ₹0 Cr | 8.3 |
| Prathmesh Agrawal Asit C Mehta - Ace Multicap · PMS | +10.2% | +24.3% | ₹0 Cr | 8.2 |
| Rishi Gupta Shepherd's Hill - Value Magno · PMS | +5.7% | +20% | ₹0 Cr | 8.1 |
| Amish Kanani JM Financial - India Resurgent · PMS | +10.9% | +21.8% | ₹12.9 Cr | 8.1 |
Sunil Kothari · FAQ
What does Sunil Kothari manage?
Why does this profile warn about the age of the data?
What is his investment style?
Is he the firm's Principal Officer?
What is the minimum investment, and what are the fees?
Has SEBI taken any action against him or the firm?
Considering Sunil'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 Sunil Kothari.