Metis Capital Management

Established in 2011, Metis Capital Management (Metis) is a Mauritius-based hedge fund manager. It first launched its Indian strategies in April 2011 after months of preparation by Gaurav Aggarwal. After a few years of managing onshore strategies, the manager started working on an offshore India-focused fund after receiving an early investment commitment from an established Middle East-based family. Metis India Opportunity Fund (MIOF), incorporated and regulated in Mauritius, was started in March 2014. Firm ethos: The firm treats the people in its circle of mutual trust as true economic partners (they also like to learn from their investor-partners). Metis aims to maintain that hard-earned wealth has been entrusted to them for safety and growth. However, without safety, there can be no growth; thus, the firm has internalized the Hippocratic oath as it applies to the investing profession. Its experiences teach them that the market is efficient most of the time over any meaningful time period. It is a challenge to find investment ideas that have fundamental factors that have not already been discounted by market participants to varying extents. However, markets, as in any human endeavor, can make mistakes in the short run and can be prone to certain biases (swings between optimism or pessimism, over-reliance on macro, etc.). Its work on Indian markets shows that earnings growth, margin sustenance, accounting clarity, and value hold significant explanatory power for attributing long-term (3+year) material outperformance within Indian equities. These are, therefore, some of its key screening levers. However, the firm doesn't artificially constrain its investable universe by looking only at simple metrics such as earning yields or inter- or intra-industry value dislocations (P/E, P/B, P/CF, etc.). If the selected businesses show sustainable promise, the ability to retain pricing power, and clearly quantifiable incremental catalysts, they become prospective candidates for inclusion in their strategy. Its process thrives on discipline and is well-positioned to look for and own strong (or potentially strong) businesses run by shareholder-friendly management teams (ethical with a long-term vision) at attractive valuations.