Vaibhav Agrawal
Built Motilal Oswal AMC's alternates platform from the ground up and now runs it as CIO — listed-equity PMS, AIF and GIFT City structures under one roof. In October 2025 the group put him on the board of its listed parent.
Is Vaibhav worth your time?
A CRISIL ratings analyst who became an equity analyst, then a portfolio manager, then the architect of Motilal Oswal AMC's entire alternates business. On the listed-equity side he is CIO and fund manager on the Founders Portfolio, a concentrated QGLP book co-managed with Dhaval Mehta. The rest of his remit — real estate, private credit and offshore GIFT City vehicles — is private-market underwriting, a genuinely different discipline that deserves to be judged on its own terms. His clearest external marker is structural rather than a market call: a seat on the board of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, the group's listed parent, effective 1 November 2025.
HNI and family-office investors who want a single, institutionally-backed relationship spanning listed-equity PMS and private-market alternates, and who are comfortable that his role on the equity side is CIO oversight of a co-managed book rather than a solo stock-picker's mandate. It suits people who can hold through an AIF's multi-year lock-up and exit timeline, and who genuinely understand the difference between a PMS wrapper and an AIF wrapper before they sign.
- The Founders Portfolio launched in March 2023 and he shares attribution with portfolio manager Dhaval Mehta — the record is short.
- Motilal Oswal real estate fund figures reported in the press are platform-level and not attributed to him individually.
- He carries CIO responsibility for the alternates platform, a named-manager seat and a board role — ask how time is allocated.
- The fee schedule is not disclosed for every strategy — AIF and PMS wrappers price differently, so get it in writing.
About Vaibhav Agrawal
Vaibhav Agrawal is Chief Investment Officer & Fund Manager for the PMS & AIF (Alternates) business at Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company Ltd, the asset-management arm of the listed Motilal Oswal Financial Services group. He also heads its alternates business, spanning PMS, AIF and GIFT City (IFSC)-routed offshore structures, and has spent more than a decade inside the group.
He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from London Business School. He began as a Ratings Analyst at CRISIL, joined Motilal Oswal Asset Management as an Investment Analyst, took on direct portfolio management of one of the firm's proprietary PMS mandates, and then built out its alternate investment platform. In October 2025 he was appointed a Non-Executive Director of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited, effective 1 November 2025.
Career
- Nov 2025 – present
Non-Executive Director, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd
Appointed October 2025, effective 1 November 2025, to the board of the group's listed parent — one of a small number of internal executives to reach it.
- current
CIO & Fund Manager – PMS & AIF (Alternates), Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company Ltd
Overall investment and business responsibility for the alternates platform; officially listed as CIO & Fund Manager on the Motilal Oswal Founders Portfolio PMS strategy alongside portfolio manager Dhaval Mehta.
- earlier at Motilal Oswal
Portfolio manager, proprietary PMS mandate; then asked to build the alternates platform
Ran one of the firm's proprietary Portfolio Management Service mandates before being given the broader mandate of building the alternate investment platform from the ground up.
- earlier at Motilal Oswal
Investment Analyst, Motilal Oswal Asset Management
Worked within the firm's equity research and portfolio management functions.
- career start
Ratings Analyst, CRISIL
Financial statement analysis, business evaluation and credit risk assessment at India's leading credit rating agency.
Four principles
Underwrite the business before the capital
A research-first discipline carried over from his CRISIL ratings and equity-analyst years — rigorous business and financial evaluation precedes any allocation.
QGLP on the listed side
Quality, Growth, Longevity and Price: businesses with a sustainable return on net worth in roughly the 20–25% band, backed by capable founder-led or promoter-driven management, bought with a margin of safety.
Concentrated and bottom-up
The Founders Portfolio is built stock by stock on business merit rather than assembled from a top-down sector or macro view.
Structure the downside on the private side
Real estate, private credit and offshore vehicles are underwritten deal by deal, with downside protection structured into the transaction and fund-level liquidity and exit timelines managed actively.
The call that shows the method working
Built the alternates platform, then earned the parent board seat
Agrawal's most concrete external marker is structural rather than a market call, and it is worth reading as exactly that. Having run one of Motilal Oswal's proprietary PMS mandates, he was asked to build the firm's alternate investment platform from the ground up — spanning PMS, AIF and GIFT City (IFSC)-routed offshore structures. Motilal Oswal has publicly credited him with “building a scalable and high-performing platform”.
In October 2025 that record inside the group was recognised with his appointment as a Non-Executive Director on the board of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited, the group's listed parent, effective 1 November 2025 — placing him among a small group of internal executives to reach it. No industry “best fund manager” awards were found in the public sources reviewed. This is a signal of institutional standing and internal governance confidence; it is not evidence of a specific investment call, and should not be read as one.
- career startRatings analyst at CRISIL — credit and business evaluation
- at Motilal OswalInvestment analyst, then portfolio manager on a proprietary PMS mandate
- thenAsked to build the alternates platform from the ground up — PMS, AIF and GIFT City structures
- 16 Mar 2023Motilal Oswal Founders Portfolio launched; he is listed as CIO & Fund Manager with Dhaval Mehta
- Oct 2025Appointed Non-Executive Director of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, effective 1 Nov 2025
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motilal Oswal - NTDOP | -1.64% | +14.14% | +9.04% | +14.08% |
| Motilal Oswal - India Growth Strategy | +14.01% | — | — | +20.95% |
| Motilal Oswal - Value Migration | -6% | +19.25% | +14.76% | +18.94% |
| Motilal Oswal-Founders | +1.38% | +21.99% | — | +25.71% |
| Motilal Oswal - Ethical | +12.87% | +15.08% | +12.38% | +13.14% |
Your return will not be the headline number. This is the spread of Vaibhav's 4 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 Vaibhav on
Bring these to the call.
On the Founders Portfolio, who decides what?
He is listed as CIO & Fund Manager and Dhaval Mehta as portfolio manager. Ask which of them holds final buy and sell authority, how disagreements are resolved, and what would happen to the mandate if either stepped away.
How is his time actually split?
CIO of a full alternates platform, named manager on a listed-equity strategy, and a board seat at the listed parent is a wide load. Ask, plainly, how much of his week the equity book gets and who covers it when it does not.
Are you being sold a PMS or an AIF?
The two wrappers differ sharply on minimum ticket, liquidity, lock-up, exit mechanics, taxation and fee construction. Confirm in writing which vehicle you are entering and what the redemption path looks like before you commit.
Ask for the full disclosure, not the headline
The Founders Portfolio launched in March 2023 and firm-disclosed figures are point-in-time. Request the current fact sheet, the full since-inception series against benchmark, and the worst drawdown — not a single since-inception number.
What is the actual fee schedule for this strategy?
Fees are not publicly disclosed for every strategy he is associated with. Get the management fee, any performance fee with its hurdle and high-water-mark treatment, the exit load, and — on AIF vehicles — set-up and placement costs, in writing.
How is the private-market book marked and exited?
Real estate and private credit positions are not marked by a live market. Ask about the valuation policy, who performs it, the expected exit timeline per fund, and what has actually been realised versus still carried at cost.
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 |
Vaibhav Agrawal · FAQ
What does Vaibhav Agrawal do at Motilal Oswal?
Which strategies is he associated with?
What is his investment philosophy?
What is his educational background?
What is the minimum investment?
Considering Vaibhav'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 Vaibhav Agrawal.