Maiden small-cap NFO of Carnelian MF mops up ₹632 cr

Carnelian Mutual Fund, the latest entrant, has mopped up ₹632 crore through 30,000 applications for its maiden new fund offer.

The fund received 30,562 applications, with an average ticket size of about ₹2.07 lakh, spanning every state in the country. Notably, 45 per cent of the applications originated from beyond the top 30 cities.

A total of 1,430 distribution partners across 275 cities participated in the NFO, indicating significant participation from tier-II and -III cities.

Additionally, 21 per cent of the applications were for SIPs. The units are scheduled to be allotted on November 5, and the scheme will reopen on November 9 for continuous sale and purchase.

Vikas Khemani, Founder and Chairman, Carnelian Asset Management said the opportunity in India today extends well beyond the companies represented in benchmark indices. As the country undergoes a significant economic transformation, several emerging businesses, sectors and niche business models are creating opportunities that may become tomorrow’s market leaders, he said.

“Our focus has always been on identifying these businesses early, backed by differentiated research and a deep understanding of their fundamentals. The small-cap universe offers an opportunity to participate in this next phase of India’s growth,” he said.

Rajkumar Dhiman, CEO, Carnelian MF, said the small-cap segment needs rigorous evaluation and valuation discipline play a critical role in identifying businesses with sustainable growth potential.

“Our focus is on building a platform where the quality of the investment process takes precedence over scale,” he added.

The scheme follows a ₹5,000 crore AUM cap to maintain agility in the small-cap segment. Once this limit is reached, fresh lump-sum investments and switch-ins will stop but SIPs will continue. The open-ended scheme will invest 65–100 per cent of its corpus in equity and equity-related instruments of small-cap companies.