Deepak Ghaisas

Deepak Ghaisas wears many hats. The former vice-chairman of i-flex Solutions is now the chairman of Gencoval Strategic Services, which provides consulting to healthcare companies and Stemade, India’s first dental stem cell bank. There’s more. He is part of Exfinity Venture Partners, a technology fund floated by Infosys veterans.

The hardcore Mumbaikar likes to be in the thick of things. “I love working with entrepreneurs in early- stage technology and healthcare ventures,” says the 58-year-old. Today, alternatives make up 15% of his portfolio. But these investments are done mostly out of the income generated from other assets, reveals Ghaisas.

A significant chunk of his portfolio is allocated to equities and is managed by three wealth managers. “All three have a different mandate and that’s how I manage the overall risk of the portfolio,” he says. Ghaisas says his portfolio sees minimal churn since he rarely sells his stocks. “That’s why I exited equity mutual funds a couple of years ago. I didn’t see why I should pay them management fees every year, given that my portfolio hardly sees any churn.”

He chooses safety over yields, preferring AAA bonds when it comes to debt which makes up for 30% of his portfolio. Unlike most HNIs, Ghaisas has a separate investment company to manage his real estate investments, which accounts for 10% his portfolio allocation. Ghaisas prefers to invest in the affordable housing category and that too only in Mumbai.

Though at only 5%, Ghaisas finds merit in gold. “I think it makes for a good investment since it is globally fungible. I always recommend that people should buy some gold every year,” says Ghaisas, who also invests in diamonds and art.

When it comes to asset allocation, Ghaisas says his sounding board is his son who is a Chartered Financial Analyst. “Though he is a lot more conservative than I am, there is nothing better than learning from your son. I think he’s probably the best investment I ever made,” Ghaisas smiles.