About

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Business
Investment philosophy
Team
Governance and policies

Aikya is an independent, employee-owned, investment management company that specialises in managing Emerging Markets equity portfolios.

We invest on behalf of similarly aligned long-term clients, with a business structure that supports and nurtures a culture of long-term investment decision-making.

Our organisational structure is simple, to avoid the type of bureaucracy and distractions that can hinder larger more complex investment management businesses.

We partnered with Pinnacle for their support on non-investment functions. They have a long history incubating and supporting boutique investment businesses, with affiliates collectively managing over US$100bn of assets.

Investment philosophy

Our aim is to generate healthy long-term returns with minimal downside, and we invest client money as if it were our own savings. We think about risk in terms of permanent loss of capital, rather than underperforming a benchmark in the short-term.

Aikya’s edge is our long-term approach, which relies on two key pillars of quality and valuation. We go to great lengths to understand the quality of stewardship, and specifically the business owners and managers whom we choose to invest alongside. Our assessment of quality extends to rigorous franchise and financial analysis and is complemented by strong valuation discipline.

Team

The Aikya team shares a common heritage and has decades of collective experience investing in Emerging Markets. We passionately believe in both the investment philosophy and the asset class.

Our culture is collegiate and encourages active debate. Everyone in the team is an analyst, and incentivised to think like long-term owners.

Investment Analyst and Portfolio Manager

Ashish Swarup

Ashish joined the predecessor business of Stewart Investors in 2014.

During his time at Stewart Investors he was Lead Manager on a few Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific strategies, including Stewart Investors Emerging Markets Leaders Fund.

He was with Fidelity between 2004 and 2014. In 2008, he launched an Emerging Markets Equity Strategy with high-quality companies, which became Fidelity Institutional Asset Management (FIAM) EM All Cap in 2010. He managed this strategy until his departure in 2014.

Ashish has a degree in Electronics & Communications Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, a Post Graduate Diploma from Indian Institute of Management, and holds an MBA from INSEAD in France.

Investment Analyst and Portfolio Manager

Rahul Desai

Between 2014 and 2019, Rahul was Portfolio Manager of Fidelity Institutional (FIAM) EM All Cap Strategy. He joined Fidelity in 2008 as an Emerging Markets analyst and was appointed Assistant Portfolio Manager to Ashish Swarup on the FIAM EM All Cap Strategy.

His career started with Boston Consulting Group in Singapore in 2003, where he spent time on the ground in most Asian capital cities.

Rahul has a degree in Computer Science from National University of Singapore and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Investment Analyst and Portfolio Manager

Tom Allen

He most recently worked for Stewart Investors in London.

Tom joined the predecessor business of Stewart Investors in 2012. He initially worked in Singapore, before moving to Edinburgh to work on Asia Pacific strategies.

From 2015, Tom was part of the Stewart Investors team in London. He co-managed Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets strategies with Ashish Swarup from 2017.

He has a degree in History from University College London (UCL).

Investment Analyst

Alan Nesbit

He most recently worked for Stewart Investors in London.

Alan was Deputy Head of Emerging Markets at Stewart Investors and its predecessor businesses between 2000 and 2016. He returned to Stewart Investors as a consultant in 2019.

From 1985 to 2000, Alan worked at Deutsche Asset Management (formerly Morgan Grenfell) as an Americas Portfolio Manager. During this time, he pioneered Morgan Grenfell’s research into Latin America, launching their Latin America Fund in 1993.

His investing career started in 1976 with Philip Hill Management, where he managed a US equities strategy.

Head of Business Operations and Trading

Michael Summers

He most recently worked for Stewart Investors in London.

Michael held various operational roles at Stewart Investors and its parent company First State between 2002 and 2018. From 2015 he was Deputy Head of Dealing at Stewart Investors.

In 2018 he worked as an Investment Specialist on Emerging Markets strategies at Stewart Investors.

Michael is a CFA Charterholder.

Investment Analyst

Trevor Fung

He most recently worked for Income Partners in Hong Kong.

Trevor worked as an Investment Analyst at Income Partners between 2013 and 2020.

He specialised in Asian credit research, which involved significant bottom-up analysis of companies.

Trevor received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Economics from the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) in 2012.

He is a CFA Charterholder, and is proficient in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

Investment Analyst

Yang Ma

Yang is an Investment Analyst.

She joined the team having finished her Masters in Finance from London Business School.

Yang worked as an Investment Analyst at China Construction Bank, Guangzhou (China) from 2019 to 2020, and as an Analyst at Thomson Reuters from 2016 to 2019.

Yang received her Bachelor of Arts in International Journalism from Hong Kong Baptist University in 2012 and a Masters in Science degree from University College London in 2014.

She is proficient in English and Mandarin.

Investment Analyst

Sholto Mactaggart

Sholto is an Investment Analyst at Aikya.

He joined Aikya in January 2021 on an internship before becoming a permanent member of the team at the start of 2022.

He had previously interned at Findlay Park Partners and Stewart Investors, where he worked alongside several members of the current Aikya team.

Sholto has a degree in Politics & International Relations from the University of Bristol.

Business Operations and Trading Associate

Amy Berloth

Amy most recently worked in Group Finance in a FTSE 250 Company, where she held various accounting roles between 2017 and 2022.

She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Finance from The University of Manchester in 2014.

Amy is a Chartered accountant.

Investment Analyst

Stephanie Li

Stephanie is an Investment Analyst at Aikya.

She most recently worked at Abrdn in Shanghai as an investment analyst covering different sectors within China equities. Previously she has also worked in different asset management functions in New York, London, and Shanghai.

Stephanie graduated with a Master of Public Administration degree from Columbia University in New York and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Peking University in China.

Head of Legal

Alex Gladwin

Alex joined the team from her role as Head of Legal at Santander Asset Management (UK) and prior to that was Head of Legal and Compliance at Oxford University Endowment Management.

Alex trained and qualified as a solicitor in Sydney, Australia. She is admitted as a solicitor to the Supreme Court of New South Wales (Australia) and the Courts of England and Wales.