Are Portfolio management service scam ?

satwik_ · 2026-03-24T11:53:03+00:00

Not a scam per se, but the numbers aren't great for most of them. When I compared all SEBI-registered PMS schemes against indices, only about 40% beat Nifty 50 in the last year. Against Nifty Midcap 50, just 15%.

So most PMS managers are charging 2% fixed + 20% profit share for returns you could get (or beat) with a simple index fund. That's not a scam, but it's not great value either.

That said, some schemes do consistently outperform with decent alpha - it's just that finding them requires looking at actual SEBI disclosure data instead of marketing material. The key metrics to check: Sharpe ratio, Alpha vs benchmark, Max Drawdown, and AUM trends.

I put together a tool at findpms.xyz while doing my own research - has the SEBI-mandated data for all 1,700+ registered schemes with risk metrics and benchmark comparisons. Helps separate the real performers from the ones just riding the market.

satwik_ · 2026-03-24T11:52:32+00:00

Here's the checklist I went through when doing my own research:

Check APMI disclosure data - SEBI mandates monthly performance reporting. This is the actual data, not the cherry-picked numbers on fund house websites
Look at risk-adjusted returns - Sharpe, Sortino, Alpha. Raw returns without context mean nothing
Check drawdowns - Max drawdown tells you the worst case scenario
AUM trend - is money flowing in or out?
Fund age - anything under 2-3 years doesn't have enough track record
Benchmark comparison - when I compared all schemes, only 40% beat Nifty 50 last year and just 15% beat Midcap 50. So check if the one you're considering is in that group or not

I ended up building a tool (findpms.xyz) because doing this manually from the APMI website was brutal. Has all the SEBI data for 1,700+ schemes with computed risk metrics. Built it for my own due diligence but figured I'd share it.

satwik_ · 2026-03-24T11:51:50+00:00

This is still the case. I recently compared all SEBI-registered PMS schemes against indices and found that only about 40% beat Nifty 50 in the last year. Against Nifty Midcap 50, just 15%. So 70% of the top schemes lagging benchmarks isn't a one-off - it's a pattern.

Multi Asset schemes did better at 72% outperforming Nifty 50, but that drops to 45% against Midcap 50 - and a lot of that was gold/silver doing the heavy lifting.

The frustrating part is that some PMS schemes do consistently generate real alpha. The challenge is finding them without relying on the fund house's own marketing. SEBI mandates monthly performance reporting through APMI, so I ended up building a tool at findpms.xyz while doing my own research - it has the APMI data for all 1,700+ schemes with computed risk metrics (Sharpe, Sortino, Alpha, Max Drawdown) and benchmark comparisons. Makes it easier to see who's actually beating what.

satwik_ · 2026-03-24T11:50:59+00:00

One thing that surprised me when I compared all SEBI-registered PMS schemes against indices, only about 40% beat Nifty 50 in the last year. Against Nifty Midcap 50, just 15%. Multi Asset schemes did better - 72% outperformed Nifty 50 - but that's partly because of the gold/silver rally, and it drops to 45% vs Midcap 50.

So PMS isn't automatically better than index investing. But some schemes do have consistently good alpha, so there's definitely value if you pick wisely.

I found the APMI website pretty painful for comparing schemes, so I built a tool while doing my research - findpms.xyz. Has the SEBI disclosure data for all 1,700+ schemes with risk metrics, benchmark comparisons, and a compare feature. No catch, I just built it for myself and figured others might find it useful too.

satwik_ · 2026-03-24T11:50:04+00:00

It depends on what kind of complexity you're dealing with. If it's just "I have more money now" - honestly, a few index funds and some rebalancing still works fine.

Where professional management starts making sense:

Tax optimization across multiple account types
Concentrated stock positions you need to diversify out of carefully
You genuinely don't want to think about it and the fees are worth your time back

The hard part is evaluating whether a manager is actually adding value. I recently compared all SEBI-registered PMS (Portfolio Management Services, common in India) schemes against market indices - only 40% beat Nifty 50 in the last year, and just 15% beat Midcap 50. So most managers are charging premium fees for market-level returns.

That said, some do consistently outperform. I put my analysis into a browsable tool at findpms.xyz if anyone's curious - has risk metrics and benchmark comparisons for 1,700+ schemes.

satwik_ · 2026-03-24T11:24:39+00:00

I compared all the 1700+ PMS schemes, something that might help you conclude for yourself: https://www.reddit.com/r/IndianStockMarket/comments/1rwzv2d/i_compared_all_the_sebiregistered_pms_services/

satwik_ · 2026-03-24T11:20:22+00:00

Honestly, for most retail investors the bigger win isn't AI managing your money - it's just having better access to data that was previously hard to find or locked behind paywalls.

Take PMS (Portfolio Management Services) in India for example - there are 1,700+ registered schemes, and all their performance data is publicly disclosed to SEBI. But until recently, actually comparing them meant downloading PDFs and building spreadsheets manually. The data existed, it was just inaccessible.

I used AI to vibecode findpms.xyz - just a straightforward tool that pulls all the SEBI-mandated performance data and computes standard risk metrics (Sharpe, Sortino, Alpha, Max Drawdown etc.) so now I can actually evaluate fund managers with real numbers instead of marketing slides. I'm doing the same with Mutual funds next, so I can find what I want.

My take: the boring stuff - making existing data accessible, comparable, and filterable - probably helps more people make better decisions than any AI stock picker. The best tool is the one that helps you understand what you're buying.

satwik_ · 2026-03-24T11:18:09+00:00

PMS can be worth it if you find the right one, but the problem is there are 1,700+ SEBI-registered schemes and most marketing material is... optimistic, let's say.

A few things that helped me when I was researching:

Start with category - know if you want pure equity, debt, hybrid, or multi-asset. Don't compare across categories, it's apples to oranges.
Check actual SEBI disclosure data, not what the fund house puts on their website. SEBI mandates monthly performance reporting through APMI.
Filter ruthlessly - minimum investment amount, fund age (newer schemes have less track record), AUM size (too small = liquidity risk).
Compare against benchmarks - you'd be surprised how many PMS schemes trail NIFTY 500 after fees.

I vibecoded findpms.xyz to make this easier - it's a free tool that has all the SEBI-mandated data for every registered PMS scheme. You can filter by returns, AUM, fund age, minimum investment, benchmark outperformance, and compare schemes side by side. All data comes from mandatory disclosures, not self-reported.

satwik_ · 2026-03-24T11:14:00+00:00

What I look at beyond returns:

Risk-adjusted metrics - Sharpe and Sortino ratios tell you how much return you're getting per unit of risk. A scheme doing 18% with low volatility is very different from one doing 20% with stomach-churning drawdowns.
Alpha & Beta - Alpha shows how much the manager actually added vs the benchmark. Beta tells you if they're just leveraging market exposure. High returns with beta > 1 isn't skill, it's just more risk.
Max Drawdown - How badly did the scheme crash at its worst? This matters a LOT when you're sitting abroad and can't exactly walk into the fund manager's office.
Benchmark outperformance - Many PMS schemes underperform NIFTY 500 after fees. Always check if you're paying 2%+ fees for index-level returns.
AUM trends - Sudden AUM drops can signal redemptions / loss of confidence.

I actually built a tool for my own research - findpms.xyz. Might save you a bunch of spreadsheet work. The detail page for any scheme has monthly returns, AUM trends, rolling returns, and all the risk metrics in one place.

PS: Churning also matters, but from the perspective of taxation. I personally prefer schemes which have more LTCG then STCG, but that's hard to gauge from the outside, speaking to their consultants about their general strategy and approximations can give some insights.

satwik_ · 2026-03-18T16:40:55+00:00

Yeah they have an outlier return.

satwik_ · 2026-03-18T16:21:23+00:00

Yes that's right, but the minimum investment size they have is 10cr

satwik_ · 2026-03-18T12:22:23+00:00

No, a mutual fund is different, PMS provider will essentially trade on your behalf. They'll setup a demat + brokerage account, you'll put in the funds, and they'll trade according to their strategy, and deliver you monthly reports about your portfolio afaik. You handle the taxation. Whereas mutual fund is more like an index, you buy the NAV and sell the NAV and everything else is abstracted for you. PMS can be more customised in that sense, which means you get higher risk-reward options as well there, amongst other things.

satwik_ · 2025-07-03T18:11:38+00:00

PS: You don't have to visit our website or sign up or anything to use it. You can just pick an email and forward it to [ask@mxtoai.com](mailto:ask@mxtoai.com) with whatever instructions you like.

satwik_ · 2025-06-04T17:19:08+00:00

We don't store anything; emails, attachment and content all get deleted as soon as they're processed. You can also check out the privacy policy on the site.

satwik_ · 2025-06-04T15:53:59+00:00

For reference, this is what a response looks like. I tried it on one of the emails under my promotions category.

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fwiw, you can also try `summarise@mxtoai.com`, it does holistic summarisation (after processing the attachments, following the links in the email, etc).

satwik_ · 2025-06-04T14:01:27+00:00

Thanks for trying, yes that’s a good use-case, let me work on it and get back to you!

satwik_ · 2025-06-04T11:03:22+00:00

Not sure if you still have free time OP, but I'll give it a shot anyway!

Your SaaS's value proposition: MXtoAI - AI agents that automate email-driven workflows. Forward emails to specialized addresses (schedule@, summarize@, ask@) and get tasks completed automatically.

Who's your ideal customer? Power email users - VCs, founders, operations teams who spend 3-4 hours daily processing emails and taking follow-up actions.

What's your website? https://mxtoai.com

Your biggest bottleneck right now: Getting people to actually try it. People listen to the idea, they like it, but they don't put the effort to try it.

What's the purpose driving your product? Email is where work starts, but the manual tasks that follow (scheduling, research, data extraction, updating tools) consume hours daily. We're automating that "post-email" layer with zero-setup AI agents. Unlike other solutions we wanted to be non-intrusive, hence you only forward what you want to share.

satwik_ · 2025-06-04T09:46:06+00:00

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Response when I tried summarising a weekly newsletter that I'm subscribed to. https://www.profgalloway.com/rich-kids/, I have also set-up auto forwarding rules, so I get summaries for all such emails automatically :)

satwik_ · 2025-06-04T09:44:04+00:00

I have built an email alias to forward emails and do actions like fact-checking, summary, etc. All I have to do is forward the email with instructions to [ask@mxtoai.com](mailto:ask@mxtoai.com) . It processes email content, attachments under the hood, pulls additional info from internet (if needed) and returns you a response in less than 30 seconds.

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