Basics of PMS

Understand professional wealth management. In a PMS, securities are held in your own demat account and managed to a strategy — with a ₹50 lakh minimum.

How it differs from a mutual fund

You own the underlying securities directly rather than units of a pooled fund. That gives transparency and portfolio-level tax treatment, and it also means your outcome can differ from another client in the same strategy.

Discretionary and non-discretionary

In a discretionary PMS the manager transacts without asking. In a non-discretionary arrangement the manager recommends and you decide. The second gives control at the cost of speed.

What it costs

A fixed management fee, often a performance fee above a hurdle, plus brokerage and custody. Total costs typically exceed a mutual fund's, which the strategy has to earn back before you are ahead.

The risk position

PMS portfolios are market-linked and concentrated by design. Returns are not assured, past performance of a strategy is not a promise, and the ₹50 lakh minimum makes this unsuitable for most investors.

Before you decide

Everything above is general. What is right for you depends on what you are protecting, what you already hold, and what you can sustain. That is a fifteen-minute conversation, and it is free.