Siddhartha Bhaiya’s global playbook: Top sectors in US, China and Europe

Fund manager Siddhartha Bhaiya, who recently passed away following a cardiac arrest, had turned cautious on Indian equities in his final views, while spotting selective opportunities across global markets. He remained optimistic on non-tech themes in the U.S., consumption-led plays in China, and defensive sectors in Europe, which he believed offered better risk-adjusted opportunities.

“As I said, we currently do not find valuation comfort in the Indian markets. However, we do see some good opportunities in international markets,” Bhaiya told PMSBazaar in an interview. He was bullish on defensive sectors in Europe, non-tech themes in the U.S., and consumption-led plays in China.

He did not elaborate on the specifics of the statement.

The maverick fund manager passed away following a cardiac arrest on Wednesday, December 31, while holidaying in New Zealand. His untimely demise has sent shockwaves through the investing community.

Bhaiya, a value investor and strong advocate of gold, was a renowned small-cap multibagger hunter known for his contrarian mindset. In recent months, he had pared a significant portion of his equity exposure and reallocated capital towards gold. As per November data, the Rs 4,000 crore fund had as much as 81.5% of its assets invested in gold ETFs.

The former Managing Director and CIO of Aequitas Investment Consultancy had said three factors drove his decision to sell equities: stretched valuations, widespread market euphoria around specific geographies, sectors or stocks, and corporate governance concerns.“We remain keen observers of market trends and note that current valuations appear quite rich. Regardless of market corrections, our approach remains bottom-up—focused on individual businesses, valuation comfort and growth prospects. This disciplined approach has helped manage downside risks to investor capital while generating good returns,” he had said in the interview.According to Bhaiya, overall market price-to-earnings ratios were less relevant than the valuations of one’s own portfolio. He believed Indian small-cap stocks were trading at premium valuations and, amid the growing frenzy around Indian capital markets, saw little rationale in staying invested.

The chartered accountant–run PMS was the top performer in 2025.

Among his most celebrated stock calls, Avanti Feeds stood out, delivering nearly 100x returns. He also clocked 50x gains in Apar Industries and Sanghvi Movers. Small-cap stocks such as JSL, GAEL, HEG, Finolex Cables, and TIIL emerged as 20-baggers, while other holdings that generated over 10x returns included HIL, Garware, CCL Products, Cosmo First, Maithan Alloys, Nilkamal, and Power Mech Projects.

(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)