A $69 mn India quant fund returns over 19%, trounces BSE in pandemic year

The DSP fund's strong showing comes in a year that has seen unpredictable market reversals whipsaw quant investors globally, with profound changes wrought by the pandemic

A $69 million Indian quant fund has delivered more than double the returns of the nation’s benchmark stock index this year by avoiding volatile shares and focusing on sector diversification.

The DSP Quant Fund has returned more than 19% in 2020, compared with a 9.3% gain in the S&P BSE Sensex Index, which surged to an all-time high on Friday. It is the largest among a handful of quant funds in India’s $364 billion asset management industry.

“The fund generally was overweight on the sectors which did relatively better such as IT and pharma,” said Aparna Karnik, head of risk