Chanakya Opportunities Fund, founded by a 25-year Old Chartered Accountant, Ms. Kresha Gupta, a recently established fund with a corpus of Rs. 200 crore, is making significant waves in the financial landscape by focusing on SM Eexchange and micro-cap companies. Within just four months of its launch, the fund has showcased remarkable success, delivering an impressive 45% return on investment.

The trust was set up in April 2023. Chanakya Fund Trust AIF is a privately pooled investment vehicle that enables Indian and foreign investors to benefit from a defined investment policy. Our focus is on investing in unlisted securities of SMEs or securities of SMEs that are listed or proposed to be listed on a SME exchange or SME segment of an exchange.

The trust is sector-agnostic, and strives to identify and invest in the best opportunities to achieve our investment objective. As a Category II AIF-SME Fund, their main objective is to arrange, manage and dispose of investments in Portfolio Entities in accordance with the Regulations. At Chanakya Fund, they take a holistic approach to Finance, Business and Corporate Laws.

In the brief span of four months since its inception, the Chanakya Opportunities Fund has exceeded investor expectations, witnessing the net asset value surge from Rs 10 per unit to Rs 14.92 per unit. Kresha Gupta, the founder of Chanakya Fund Trust, remarked, “It’s a remarkable feat, which speaks to the fund’s strong management and investment strategy.” The fund strategically allocated 51% of its investments to unlisted SME companies and 24% to listed SME companies, providing exposure to the growth potential of the SME sector while offering stability from the listed market.

The success of the fund can be attributed to strategic investments in 13 listed companies, with 12 showing positive returns. Notably, Chanakya became an anchor investor with a Rs 10 crore investment in Plaza Wires Ltd, a cable manufacturer that was listed at a 40% premium to the IPO price and is currently trading at a 120% premium.

“Chanakya is one of the only funds in India focused on SME exchange. We see a huge opportunity in this segment, especially as some of the recent IPOs have been subscribed by more than 100 times in the market,” Gupta commented.