1 week ago
Ex-Goldman Manager Builds India’s Mutual Fund Challenger
Prashant Khemka used to manage investments at Goldman Sachs.
In 2017, he started his own investment company called WhiteOak Capital.
The company later began offering mutual funds to everyday investors.
Its team studies individual companies instead of mainly guessing where the overall market will go.
It looks at how a company operates and how it borrows or uses money.
Three WhiteOak funds had higher recent returns than their comparison indexes, according to the article.
The funds also held many different stocks, which can help spread risk.
However, mutual fund investments can lose money, and strong past performance may not continue.
Investors are advised to match any investment with their goals and ability to take risk.
Prashant Khemka founded WhiteOak Capital Management in 2017 after leading Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s India equity and global emerging-markets businesses.
WhiteOak expanded into retail asset management after acquiring YES Asset Management and YES Trustee in November 2021.
The firm uses an “opco-finco” framework that separates business operations from financing and emphasizes cash flows, governance, valuation, and stock selection.
WhiteOak’s Flexi Cap, Mid Cap, and ELSS Tax Saver funds all outperformed their stated benchmarks over three years, according to the cited data.
The article says investors should consider risk tolerance, asset allocation, and a five-to-seven-year horizon because past returns do not guarantee future performance.
- Who
- Prashant Khemka and WhiteOak Capital Management, along with its mutual fund investment team.
- What
- WhiteOak’s growth as a retail mutual fund company and the reported performance of three of its equity funds.
- Where
- India, with Khemka’s earlier investment work also covering global emerging markets.
- When
- Khemka founded WhiteOak Capital Management in June 2017; it entered full-scale retail asset management in November 2021. Performance figures are reported through 15 September 2026.
- Why
- WhiteOak aims to generate long-term outperformance through bottom-up stock selection, cash-flow-based valuation, diversification, and risk management.
Performance Case
Cautionary Case
Recent fund performance
Performance Case
The article reports that WhiteOak’s Flexi Cap, Mid Cap, and ELSS Tax Saver funds substantially outperformed their respective benchmarks over three years.
Cautionary Case
The article notes that the figures are based on past performance and should not be treated as a guarantee of future returns.
Risk management
Performance Case
The funds used diversified portfolios, relatively controlled volatility, and, in the Mid Cap Fund, tactical index-derivative hedges, according to the article.
Cautionary Case
Equity mutual funds remain exposed to market volatility, and investors are advised to consider their risk appetite and asset allocation before investing.
Investment strategy
Performance Case
WhiteOak says its bottom-up, value-conscious and cash-flow-based process can generate alpha without relying on market timing or sector rotation.
Cautionary Case
The article does not establish that the strategy will continue to outperform; results depend on the future performance of the underlying holdings.
Key facts
- Founder
- Prashant Khemka
- WhiteOak founding
- June 2017
- Retail mutual fund expansion
- November 2021, following the acquisition of YES Asset Management (India) Limited and YES Trustee Ltd.
- Flexi Cap Fund
- Reported three-year CAGR of 13.7% and assets under management of more than Rs 9,100 crore as of the article’s cited data.
- Mid Cap Fund
- Reported three-year CAGR of 21.0% and assets under management of more than Rs 7,400 crore.
- ELSS Tax Saver Fund
- Reported three-year CAGR of 15.2% and assets under management of more than Rs 500 crore.
- Investment approach
- The “opco-finco” framework separates operating businesses from their financing structures and emphasizes economic cash flows.
Sources
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