September was not a month to cheer for market returns. The NIFTY50 TRI fell 6.03%, pressured by rising crude prices, higher global bond yields, geopolitical uncertainty and continued foreign selling. But a difficult month can also be revealing as it shows how portfolios behave when comfort disappears. At ithoughtPMS, we focused less on the red numbers and more on what they say about portfolio construction and risk and conviction.
Flexibility Met the Correction
Solitaire declined 5.21% in September, slightly better than the S&P BSE 500 TRI’s 5.57% fall. Its one-year return was negative at −8.18%, however since its inception in August 2019, the strategy has compounded at 17.61% compared to 14.81% of its benchmark. The portfolio’s resilience is on its construction. Around 81% it is invested in debt-free companies while its beta of 0.77 suggests a lower sensitivity to market movements. Meaningful exposure to automobiles, capital goods, insurance and FMCG keeps the portfolio diversified rather than a single theme
The message from September is clear: quality does not stop it from falling in a crash, but it can affect how a portfolio withstands a fall. We aim to own businesses that can recover and compound once the conditions improve.
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Large Caps Under Pressure
TruBlu fell 6.01%, almost on par with the NIFTY50 TRI’s 6.03% decline. While since inception it has delivered 7.84% compared to 8.85% of its benchmark, the strategy is confined to the NIFTY50 universe but it is not a replication of the index. Its focus is on identifying large-cap companies with scale, established operations and the ability to weather difficult periods, while avoiding structural risks within the index. Financial services makes up 37% of the portfolio, automobiles at 13% and IT at 8%. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance, Larsen & Toubro and Bharti Airtel are some of the larger positions. In a month where large caps broadly came under pressure, the portfolio’s task was not to avoid the fall altogether, but to remain invested in businesses with durable franchises.
Research Led the Way Down
Vrddhi declined 2.77%, significantly better than the S&P BSE 500 TRI’s 5.57% fall. Since inception the strategy has generated 15.95% compared to 12.11% for the benchmark. The portfolio invests in emerging businesses in the mid-, small- and micro-cap segments using a private-equity-style research approach. Around 40% of the portfolio is in companies without external research coverage, 67% in market leaders and 38% in debt-free companies. That combination matters. We aim not to chase the fastest-moving stock, but to identify businesses with the potential to become much larger over time. In September, this research-led approach helped the portfolio navigate a broadly weak market better than its benchmark.
Allocation Became the Story
Sphere declined 6.13% vs 2.65% for the NSE Multi Asset Index 1. The underperformance was largely due to the portfolio’s sharp shift towards equities where we saw attractive valuations after the correction. The portfolio currently holds around 84% in equity, alongside global exposure and precious metals. Its largest sector exposures are banks, metals, global assets, financial services and consumption. Since inception Sphere has delivered 17.63% vs 8.98% for its benchmark. Sphere is not designed to hold the same asset allocation in every market environment. Its top-down, macro-led framework assesses where opportunity lies and repositions accordingly. The current equity-heavy allocation reflects that, but the flexibility to cross asset classes remains central to the strategy.
India’s Story for NRI Investors
NIO, our NRI-exclusive multi-asset strategy, declined 5.95% in September against 2.65% for the NSE Multi Asset Index 1. Since inception in October 2022 it has delivered 15.66% vs 10.23% for its benchmark. The portfolio is primarily invested in equities, with 92% in the asset class. Its largest exposures are to banks, metals, consumption and financial services. Like Sphere, NIO follows a top-down, macro-focused approach, allowing NRI investors to participate in India’s long-term growth story while retaining the ability to respond to changing market conditions.
What We Take Forward
September did not change the long-term question: are the businesses we own sound, valuations reasonable and is the portfolio positioned for the opportunity set ahead? A correction shows us what the prices have done; it does not by itself tell us if our investment theses have broken up. As we enter the final quarter of 2026, our focus remains on evaluating businesses, valuations, asset classes and risks, and acting where the opportunity warrants it. Investing is not about owning a portfolio that never falls. It is about building a portfolio we understand well enough to stay committed to when it does.
