New PMS Launches in 2026: What Changed in India’s Alternatives Market

Three things happened in India's alternatives market in 2026, and they are usually reported separately.

First, the number of registered portfolio managers kept climbing: SEBI counted 515 on 31 May 2026, and its public list showed 538 on 6 October 2026. Second, the regulator approved the first full rewrite of the PMS regulations since 2020, with a mutual-fund-only route and a way for individual fund managers to launch under someone else's licence. Third, the products that sit beside PMS grew quickly: specialised investment funds crossed Rs 31,000 crore by August 2026, and AIF commitments passed Rs 17.5 lakh crore.

For an HNI or an adviser, the result is more new PMS launches to look at, more ways to reach a similar strategy, and less history to judge any of them by. This review puts the dated numbers in one place, separates what is in force from what is only approved, and then deals with the question every new launch raises: how do you assess a strategy that cannot show past returns?

"Our count" means a count we made from SEBI's list of registered portfolio managers as it stood on 6 October 2026. It counts licences, not live strategies. Nothing here recommends any manager; names appear only because they are on a public register or in dated press reports.

Portfolio management as a regulated activity is older than most investors assume. SEBI first notified regulations for portfolio managers on 7 January 1993.

The framework was rebuilt in 2020, producing the regime investors know today: a Rs 50 lakh minimum per client, a Rs 5 crore net-worth requirement for the manager, and a clear split between discretionary, non-discretionary and advisory services. SEBI's own figures show the growth since. There were 226 portfolio managers in 2020 and 515 by 31 May 2026. Assets rose from Rs 18.07 lakh crore in April 2019 to Rs 42.61 lakh crore, and clients from 1.5 lakh to 2.19 lakh.

Two later changes matter for anyone looking at a new launch. In December 2022 SEBI standardised performance reporting with effect from 1 April 2023. Every investment approach is tagged to one of four strategies (equity, debt, hybrid or multi asset) and to one benchmark from a short list prescribed by APMI, the industry association. Advertised performance has to be a time-weighted return shown next to that benchmark.

Then, on 23 July 2026, SEBI published a consultation paper proposing a comprehensive review, and on 24 September 2026 its Board approved the proposal to introduce the SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2026 in place of the 2020 regulations. Its contents and status are covered below, because the gap between approved and in force is where investors are most likely to be misled.

Every article on PMS growth starts with the same figure. According to APMI, PMS industry AUM stood at Rs 43.3 lakh crore in June 2026 with about 2.2 lakh client accounts, and at about Rs 44.11 lakh crore with about 2.23 lakh accounts in July 2026, both up about 11% on the year.

Those figures are accurate and easy to misread.

SEBI's data for June 2026 breaks the total into three services:

Of the Rs 36.72 lakh crore in discretionary mandates, Rs 31.04 lakh crore, nearly 85%, belonged to the EPFO and other provident funds. That money is run under government-prescribed guidelines and sits mostly in debt. APMI puts provident funds at nearly 79% of all domestic PMS assets.

Subtract the provident-fund money and the discretionary pool that individuals, families and corporates choose a manager for is about Rs 5.68 lakh crore (Rs 36.72 lakh crore less Rs 31.04 lakh crore, June 2026).

This matters for reading the launch data. A newly licensed boutique is not competing for a share of Rs 44 lakh crore. It is competing for a discretionary pool roughly one-eighth that size, against more than 500 other licence holders. SEBI's September press release shows how thinly that pool is spread: 48% of registered portfolio managers have assets under Rs 100 crore.

Crisil Intelligence expects the share of alternatives in India's managed-fund assets to rise from about 7% in 2020 to about 12% by 2030, so the direction is clear. But in 2026 the alternatives market is still narrow, and that shapes both the opportunity and the risk in backing a new entrant.

There is no official table of new PMS launches. SEBI publishes a list of registered portfolio managers with each registration number and the date from which the certificate is valid. We downloaded all 22 pages of that list on 7 October 2026, when it was headed "Registered intermediaries as on date Oct 06, 2026" and showed 538 records.

Registration numbers are issued in sequence. Sixty numbers in the newest sequence carry a validity start date between 1 January and 6 October 2026:

Three cautions before reading anything into this.

• It counts licences, not strategies. A manager can hold a certificate for months before opening an investment approach to clients.
• It includes groups that already had a licence. At least two of the 60 are second entries for existing houses: a new Abakkus entity alongside the one registered in 2019, and an Invesco Asset Management India entry that appears under both an old and a new number.
• It shows survivors only. SEBI's count rose by 23 between 31 May and 6 October 2026 while 28 new numbers are dated in that window, which suggests a few names also left.

Even so, the pace is notable. The same list shows 66 certificates dated 2025 and 64 dated 2024; with nearly three months of 2026 left, this year was already at 60.

The best-documented entry of the year is Bajaj Alternate Investment Management, an arm of Bajaj Finserv. It announced on 6 April 2026 that it had SEBI's approval to start portfolio management; SEBI's list shows its certificate valid from 1 April 2026. The firm had run only AIFs until then and said its PMS would target HNIs and ultra-HNIs with high-conviction listed-equity portfolios. Other 2026 certificates belong to names investors know from adjacent businesses, including Godrej Wealth (17 July), Scripbox Wealth Managers (5 August), Vivriti Asset Management (1 April) and Anicut Asset Management Company (21 August). A certificate tells you the firm may offer the service. It says nothing about what it has launched or how it will perform.

Twenty-six of the 60 new numbers belong to limited liability partnerships, the typical shape of a founder-led boutique. These are the launches where the manager's personal history matters most and the firm-level record is shortest.

Entry is only half the picture. In July 2026 Axis AMC announced it had acquired the PMS business of Axis Securities; more than 2,500 investors moved across and combined PMS assets were put at about Rs 15,000 crore. Deals like this change who runs a client's money without any new licence being issued. SEBI's July consultation paper also proposed that a newly registered manager reach 10 clients or Rs 5 crore of assets within three years. The September press release does not say whether that test was retained.

The 24 September 2026 Board decision is the most consequential regulatory event for new PMS launches since 2020. SEBI said the redraft cut the regulations from 70 pages to 33. Three parts of it bear directly on who can launch and what they can offer.

PRIM stands for Portfolio Managers Route for Investing in Mutual Fund units. A portfolio manager invests client money only in direct plans of mutual funds, including ETFs, index funds and SIFs of Indian asset management companies. The approved terms are:

• Minimum ticket of Rs 25 lakh, half the standard PMS minimum.
• Fixed management fee capped at 1% of client assets, with performance-linked fees also permitted.
• A 25% cap on schemes of affiliated, group or associate AMCs, and no exit load.
• A lighter registration for firms offering only this: net worth of Rs 2 crore instead of Rs 5 crore.
• Existing managers can offer it as a separate investment approach under their current licence.

The PRIM route formalises something already growing. Business Standard reported in June 2026 that mutual fund assets held through PMS had nearly doubled in two and a half years to nearly Rs 1 trillion. Whether a 1% fee on top of fund expenses is worth paying is a question for each investor.

An Independent Fund Manager, or IFM, manages client portfolios in association with a registered portfolio manager instead of holding a licence of their own. SEBI attached conditions:

• The registered portfolio manager carries full responsibility and liability for everything the IFM does.
• The IFM needs the same qualifications and certifications as a principal officer, and can work under only one portfolio manager at a time.
• Fees are paid to the registered manager, and orders flow through its systems.
• Clients get a mandatory exit option if the IFM leaves or is terminated.

For launches, this could matter more than PRIM. A capable fund manager leaving a large house will be able to start a strategy without first capitalising and staffing a company. Investors will need to assess two parties: the person picking the stocks and the licence holder answerable for them.

The same package widens what any PMS may hold: IPOs and primary-market debt, up to 10% of client assets in investment-grade unlisted debt under discretionary mandates, derivatives up to 1.25 times client assets, and listed foreign securities subject to FEMA and the RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme.

Board approval is not law. The new PMS rules take effect only when the regulations are notified. When we checked SEBI's list of regulations on 7 October 2026, it still showed the Portfolio Managers Regulations, 2020, last amended on 3 September 2025, and no 2026 regulations.

If a provider says you can open a Rs 25 lakh account under PRIM today, ask for the notified regulation and the updated disclosure document. Until both exist, the 2020 rules govern your agreement. This can change quickly, so check SEBI's website.

A new PMS in India does not launch into empty space. Three other regulated wrappers are chasing the same investor, and each one moved in 2026.

SIFs are the most direct challenge to a new equity PMS. They are run by mutual fund houses, can take limited short positions through derivatives, and need a fifth of the PMS minimum. Assets rose from Rs 13,814 crore in May 2026 to Rs 31,175 crore at the end of August, according to AMFI's monthly SIF report. Under the PRIM route a portfolio manager will also be able to buy SIFs for clients, so the two will overlap as well as compete.

AIFs grew steadily. SEBI's data shows commitments of Rs 17.53 lakh crore on 30 June 2026, up 23.6% on the year, of which Rs 13.03 lakh crore sits in Category II and Rs 3.37 lakh crore in Category III. Launching got faster too: the GARUDA green-channel mechanism, approved on 19 June 2026 and now part of the AIF Master Circular, cuts the launch timeline for regular schemes to 10 working days.

GIFT City matters mainly for NRIs and for overseas exposure. IFSCA's bulletin for the June 2026 quarter shows 235 fund management entities, up from 217 three months earlier, and investors in IFSC fund schemes rising to 16,150 from 9,594.

The same long-short, small-cap or multi-asset idea can now reach you through several wrappers with different minimums, tax treatment and liquidity. The wrapper deserves as much thought as the manager.

Launching a PMS in 2026 depends less on office infrastructure than it did five years ago, and checking one is easier.

On the manager's side, the September package promotes a digital disclosure document, a standardised Investment Management Agreement, and demat and trading authority written into that agreement. Managers under Rs 100 crore will not need a dedicated dealing room, and Independent Fund Managers will route orders through the registered manager's systems. Entrants lead with this: Bajaj's alternates arm said it would use technology to improve transparency for clients.

On the investor's side, almost everything needed to verify an entrant is public:

• SEBI's list of registered portfolio managers shows each registration number and certificate date.
• SEBI's portal carries the monthly reports each manager files, and managers also report to APMI within seven working days of month-end.
• AMFI publishes a monthly SIF report, SEBI publishes quarterly AIF data, and IFSCA publishes a quarterly bulletin for GIFT City.

Every figure in this article came from those sources. The limiting factor in 2026 is the time it takes to read the filings.

New is not automatically better. But there are real reasons to look at a new PMS strategy instead of defaulting to the largest names.

• More choice. Sixty new registration numbers in just over nine months means more managers to compare, from founder-led boutiques to arms of large financial groups.
• A lower entry point is on the way. Once notified, the PRIM route brings a regulated, discretionary, mutual-fund-based portfolio to Rs 25 lakh.
• Fee discipline on the new route. PRIM sets a hard 1% ceiling on the fixed fee, whereas a standard PMS management fee is whatever the client agreement says.
• A wider toolkit. IPOs, limited unlisted debt and listed overseas securities will let new approaches be built in ways the 2020 rules did not allow.
• Experienced managers without the corporate overhead. The IFM route lets an individual launch under an established licence, with that licence holder fully liable.
• The same guard rails from the first day. Benchmark tagging, time-weighted reporting and the disclosure document apply to a one-month-old strategy exactly as they do to a ten-year-old one.

Managers of new strategies also argue that a small asset base lets them take meaningful positions in smaller companies. Treat that as a claim to test against the actual portfolio. We found no Indian data that settles it.

A fair question for any comparison platform is what it does with a strategy that has nothing to compare yet. PMS Sahi Hai is an APMI-registered distributor of PMS, AIF and GIFT City products, paid by the asset managers it distributes, and its research tool Nyra describes itself as "an analytical tool, not a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser". Here is what its own pages say on the point.

• A strategy under 12 months old is not scored. The Nyra Score methodology marks a strategy "Not Rated" when it has less than 12 months of track record, or when less than half the scoring weight can be computed from disclosed data. It adds that short track records and thin disclosure cap the maximum score a strategy can reach. A new launch does not get a flattering number built on a good first quarter.
• Missing periods stay blank. On the compare page, funds can be filtered by product class, category, fund house and AUM size and placed side by side, and younger funds show a dash for return periods they have not completed.
• Track record length is part of the score. It sits inside the Structure & Stewardship pillar, with asset base, diversification, cash drag and fee alignment.

There are limits. The site has no tracker of newly registered portfolio managers and no list of 2026 launches; the count in this article came from SEBI's register, not from Nyra. Its fund-manager profiles cover established names.

Where the platform does help with a new entrant is the reading around it. Its guide on what SEBI registration actually verifies explains why a certificate is a floor, not a judgement of skill. Its walkthrough on how to read a PMS disclosure document covers the document where a new investment approach, its benchmark and its fees are set out. And its explainer on what happens if a PMS manager shuts down addresses the business risk that comes with a young firm.

The practical use is as a yardstick. Line up an unrated new PMS strategy against scored peers in the same category on fees, concentration and benchmark, and you can see what the newcomer has to beat.

Most selection checklists assume three or five years of returns. A new PMS strategy has none, so rolling returns, drawdown history and risk-adjusted ratios are unavailable. The evaluation has to rest on things that exist before the first rupee is invested.

1. Confirm the licence yourself. Find the firm among SEBI's registered portfolio managers and note the registration number and certificate date. If an Independent Fund Manager runs the strategy once that route is live, identify the registered manager who is liable.
2. Trace the people, not the brand. Where did the fund manager work before, in what role, and for how long? A record earned inside a large team at a previous employer is evidence of experience. It is not this strategy's record.
3. Read the investment approach as a constraint. Ask what the approach forbids: maximum position size, sector limits, cash limits, use of derivatives. An approach with no stated limits can become anything.
4. Check the benchmark choice. A small-cap portfolio measured against a large-cap index will look good in the wrong years. Under SEBI's rules, changing the benchmark later means the earlier record cannot be used, so the first choice tells you something.
5. Ask how much of their own money is in it. This is a conversation, not a figure you will find on SEBI's list. A manager whose own savings follow the same approach has a different incentive from one who only collects fees.
6. Look at the business behind the strategy. Who owns the firm, who is the custodian, and how many clients does it need to cover its costs? A strategy can be sound and the business still fail to reach viable size.
7. Price the uncertainty into the fee. With no evidence of skill yet, there is little case for paying the same as an established strategy. Compare the fixed fee, performance fee, hurdle and exit load with older peers.

SEBI's performance rules say two things must not be mentioned or implied in any communication by a portfolio manager: model portfolio returns and the performance of cherry-picked investors. Advertised performance must be the time-weighted return of the actual investment approach, shown with its benchmark, and the figures are checked in the annual audit.

That gives a simple test. If the pitch for a brand-new approach leans on back-tested numbers, a "paper portfolio" or the results of one early client, it is on the wrong side of the rule. The honest position for a new approach is a short real record, clearly labelled, and a long conversation about process.

The case for new entrants has to be set against costs that are specific to them.

• There is nothing to verify performance against. One good year in a favourable market says little about skill, and a new strategy cannot shorten the wait for evidence.
• Business risk is real. With 48% of registered portfolio managers under Rs 100 crore, many firms run on thin economics. If a manager winds down, your shares stay in your own demat account, but you still bear the disruption and the work of finding a replacement.
• Key-person risk is concentrated. A boutique is often one decision-maker. The IFM framework forces an exit option when the IFM leaves; the standard route has no equivalent trigger.
• The rules a launch is marketed on may not be live. The new PMS rules were approved on 24 September 2026 and were not shown as notified on 7 October 2026. Terms can change between approval and notification.
• Headline growth flatters demand. Provident funds hold most PMS assets, so growth in the total does not mean HNI money is reaching new managers at the same rate.
• A registration is not an endorsement. SEBI's list confirms a firm may operate. It does not rate the firm or tell you whether a strategy has started.

Tax is a further variable. PMS gains are taxed in the investor's own hands trade by trade, which differs from a SIF or an AIF, so check your position with a tax adviser before choosing a wrapper.

Put the pieces together and 2026 looks like a year in which supply expanded faster than evidence. There are 538 registered portfolio managers, 60 of them with registration numbers issued this year. More ways to launch are coming once the 2026 regulations are notified, and SIFs alone hold Rs 31,175 crore. What has not grown at the same pace is the pool of individually chosen PMS money.

For investors, that argues for three habits.

• Separate the announcement from the rule. Ask which regulation a product is offered under today.
• Size a new allocation as an unproven one. Treat a new PMS strategy as a smaller position alongside managers with a visible record, and decide in advance what evidence would make you add or leave.
• Compare wrappers before managers. Decide whether the idea belongs in a PMS, a SIF or an AIF given your ticket size, tax position and liquidity needs, then compare providers.

For advisers, the opportunity is in the reading clients will not do: the register, the disclosure document, the monthly filings. In an alternatives market adding a licence every four or five days, that is where the edge is. Tools such as Nyra can shorten the comparison with established peers, but for a strategy under a year old the reading still has to be done by a person.

A new launch deserves a proper look, and in 2026 that starts with public records. Before you sign with a newly registered manager, verify the certificate on SEBI's list, read the disclosure document for the investment approach and benchmark, confirm which regulations the offer is made under, and compare the fee with established peers and with the SIF or AIF route to the same idea. If the answers are clear and the people are credible, a measured first allocation is a reasonable way to find out the rest. If the pitch depends on numbers the strategy has not yet earned, wait.

To see how a new name sits beside scored strategies in its category, ask Nyra on PMS Sahi Hai, or talk to the team before you commit. PMS Sahi Hai is a distributor and earns trail commission from asset managers; Nyra's output is informational, not personalised investment advice.