Absolute Freedom Portfolio - 1

Mr. Samir Rachh is a Senior Fund Manager (Equity) at NAM India, known for managing the Nippon India Small Cap Fund — one of the largest small cap schemes in India with INR 35,000+ Cr in AUM. He has been associated with NAM India for over a decade.

Rupesh Patel joined NAM India as a Senior Fund Manager – Equity. He brings over 23 years of experience across listed equity investments, private equity real estate investments, credit risk assessment, and evaluation of infrastructure projects. Prior to joining, he worked with Tata Asset Management Limited from 2008, where he managed flagship funds including Midcap Growth, Large Cap, Tax Savings, Focused Equity, and Infrastructure Funds.

Mr. Ashwani Kumar is one of India's most experienced fund managers, having been with NAM India since 2003. He acts as Senior Fund Manager for Equity Investments. He holds a degree from the University of Poona and an MBA in Finance. He previously worked with Zurich Asset Management Co. Ltd., where he developed money management techniques that helped establish the fund house's early reputation.

Sushil Budhia is a Senior Fund Manager for Debt Investments at NAM India (joined January 2019). He has over 20 years of experience in fixed income markets across structured finance, credits, and mortgages. Before joining NAM India, he was at YES Bank as Senior President, where he played a pivotal role in setting up the Debt Capital Market business over a 13-year tenure. He has also worked at Axis Bank and UTI Mutual Fund as a Bond Dealer. He is a Chartered Accountant.

Vivek Sharma is a Fund Manager for Fixed Income at NAM India, joining in 2006 as a Management Trainee and working with the Fixed Income team since 2007. He actively manages duration and asset-allocation of various debt portfolios including Income Fund, Gilt Fund, Dynamic Bond Fund, Ultra Short Term Fund, FMPs, Credit Fund, Liquid Fund, and Liquid Plus Funds. He has managed INR 57,000–70,000 Cr across 19–20 schemes.

Vikash Agarwal joined NAM India in August 2024 as Senior Fund Manager. He has over 18.5 years of experience in capital markets. He previously worked at HDFC Asset Management as Fund Manager (September 2007 to August 2024). Before HDFC AMC, he was at Larsen & Toubro in Forex Trading and Economic Research (April 2006 to September 2007), managing hedging of forex risk and bid advisory on projects involving foreign exchange risks.

Pranay Sinha is a Fund Manager – Fixed Income at NAM India, managing INR 27,000–29,000 Cr across approximately eight debt schemes.

Ms. Kinjal Desai is a Fund Manager at NAM India, managing one of the largest portfolios at the firm with INR 3,70,000–4,05,000 Cr across approximately 47–48 schemes, primarily index/ETF and passively managed strategies.

Mr. Sundeep Sikka is the ED and CEO of Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited (NAM India). He has over 28 years of rich experience in financial services, with core expertise in asset management. He joined NAM India in 2003 and has held various leadership positions, being elevated to CEO in 2009, making him one of the youngest CEOs in the Indian asset management industry. He was instrumental in NAM India becoming the first listed AMC in India (IPO in 2017) and in Nippon Life Insurance Japan becoming the primary shareholder in 2019. Under his leadership NAM India has grown to become one of India's largest asset managers with INR 6.5 trillion+ AUM. He has served as both Vice-Chairman and Chairman of AMFI, and has held positions at RBI (Technical Advisory Committee on Money, Foreign Exchange & Government Securities Markets), CII, NSDL (Executive Committee), FICCI (Capital Markets Committee). He holds a Commerce degree, an MBA with majors in Finance from Pune University, and completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School.

Mr. Sailesh Raj Bhan is President and CIO for Equity Investments at Nippon India Mutual Fund. He has over 27 years of experience in Indian equity markets, with 19+ years at NAM India (joined 2006). He has been managing multiple flagship funds — Nippon India Large Cap Fund, Nippon India Multi Cap Fund, and Nippon India Pharma Fund — for over 15 years. He was appointed CIO – Equity effective January 1, 2023, succeeding Manish Gunwani. He holds an MBA in Finance and the CFA charter.

Mr. Amit Tripathi is President and CIO for Fixed Income at Nippon India Mutual Fund. He has 25+ years of experience in capital markets and has been with NIMF for over 20 years, having successfully managed various fixed income and hybrid funds recognised for superior performance domestically and internationally. In his current role as President & CIO – Fixed Income, he leads a team of 20 highly motivated and experienced fixed income professionals. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Finance from FORE School of Management, New Delhi.

Mr. Hiroki Yamauchi serves on the Board of Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited representing Nippon Life Insurance Company, Japan.

Mr. Minoru Kimura serves on the Board of Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited representing Nippon Life Insurance Company, Japan.

Mr. Upendra Kumar Sinha is an Independent Director on the Board of NAM India. He is a former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). During his tenure as SEBI Chairman he drove significant reforms in the Indian capital markets including the development of the REIT and InvIT framework, corporate bond market, commodity derivatives market integration, and mutual fund reforms.

Mr. Ashvin Parekh is an Independent Director on the Board of Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited. He is a management consultant specializing in financial services.

Mr. B. Sriram is an Independent Director on the Board of Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited. He is a career banker and former Managing Director and CEO of IDBI Bank and former Managing Director of State Bank of India.

Mrs. Sonu Bhasin is an Independent Director on the Board of NAM India and one of the senior women professionals in the Indian financial services industry with 30+ years of experience. She is the Founder of FAB-Families and Business, a platform for Family Business Owners (SMEs) since November 2014. She has previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Tata Capital Limited (Travel, Forex and Cards), Group President (Branch Banking) at Yes Bank, President for Retail Products & Sales Management at Axis Bank, and Head of Investment and Third-Party Product Development and Head of Marketing – Wealth Management at ING Vysya Bank.

Mr. Shin Matsui serves on the Board of NAM India as Chief Planning and Business Excellence Officer (see full bio under Nippon Life India AIF Management Limited board entry). Joined NLI in 1994. B.Econ Waseda University, Japan.