In a wide-ranging conversation with ET Now, Mukherjea pulled back the curtain on how Marcellus has repositioned its flagship portfolios, where fund flows are actually going, and what structural bets he is quietly building right now.
Clients are voting with their money
Inflows into Marcellus’s GIFT City global offering — now approximately ₹600 crore — have remained steady through the recent volatility, including the past month. Indian investors are increasingly seeking global diversification, and Mukherjea credits the government, RBI, and GIFT City authorities for making overseas investment tax-efficient and cost-effective through the platform.
On the domestic side, Marcellus had seen outflows from its local products for three consecutive years. However, those outflows have stabilised in recent months. Mukherjea believes investors are rethinking the heavy bets placed on PSU companies, power infrastructure, and road builders — sectors that face real pressure as government finances tighten and oil prices surge heading into FY27.
The Consistent Compounder Portfolio (CCP) has been quietly repositioned
Two years ago, as Mukherjea and his team researched their book Breakpoint, a clear picture emerged: India’s middle class was under severe stress. Real wage growth had stalled over five to six years, jobs had dried up, and an estimated $10–11 billion was being lost annually by retail investors in F&O trading.
The conclusion was stark — domestic consumption in India was heading for a meaningful slowdown. In response, Marcellus gradually reduced the weight of consumption stocks and lending companies in its Consistent Compounder portfolio (CCP), while increasing exposure to export-oriented businesses such as Divi’s Laboratories and its supply chain partners.
A mystery position: Betting on rising NPAs
Mukherjea revealed that Marcellus is currently building a position in companies that will benefit from non-performing assets rising in the Indian banking system. He declined to name the stocks yet, saying the position is still being accumulated and will be disclosed in a few weeks.It is a pointed signal. While most investors are hoping asset quality pressures remain contained, Marcellus is actively positioning for a deterioration in bank balance sheets.
Using any rally to accelerate the pivot
Mukherjea was clear about his playbook if markets stage a relief rally over the coming weeks. He intends to use any such bounce to further reduce domestic consumption exposure and add to export-oriented manufacturers — companies positioned to benefit from a weaker rupee, expanding free trade agreements, and the ongoing China-plus-one shift in global supply chains.The same pivot is playing out across Marcellus’s small and midcap portfolios, where the team has been proactively loading up on manufactured goods exporters during the current downturn.
His personal bet tells the story
Perhaps the most telling data point is Mukherjea’s own asset allocation. Four years ago he held 70% of his personal wealth in India. As domestic valuations stretched and concerns about job creation and wage growth mounted, he began reducing that exposure. Today it sits at 50-50 — and he does not plan to go further just yet.
“I have enough faith in the Indian market to keep half my money here,” he said. But the direction of travel over the past four years has been unmistakably outward.
For investors still heavily concentrated in domestic consumption and lending stocks, Mukherjea’s portfolio moves may be the most honest signal of what lies ahead.
