How Much Do PMS Charge in 2026? Fixed, Performance and Hybrid Fees

A portfolio management service asks for a minimum of ₹50 lakh, and in exchange it builds a portfolio of stocks held directly in your name. The manager is paid out of that portfolio every year. Unlike a mutual fund, where the expense ratio is quietly netted from the NAV, PMS charges arrive as visible line items on your statement: a fixed management fee, sometimes a performance fee, GST on both, brokerage, custody and fund-accounting costs.

Yet investors tend to compare strategies on the return number printed on a factsheet, then discover later that two strategies with similar gross returns left them with very different amounts of money. The gap is almost always fees. On ₹1 crore, a difference of one percentage point a year in total cost compounds into lakhs over five years.

This guide does one job: it puts numbers on PMS charges in India as they stand in October 2026. You will see the fee menus that well-known strategies publish, typical ranges for each fee type, and worked examples at ₹50 lakh and ₹1 crore across four one-year return scenarios and three five-year paths. Our earlier explainer walks through how a single fee bill is calculated; here the focus is on what you will actually pay.

The regulatory framework, high-water marks, hurdle rates, the tax treatment of fees and which structure suits whom each have their own article; they appear here only as far as you need them to read the numbers.

PMS charges in India have moved from loosely defined, front-loaded pricing to a narrower, more transparent set of choices. A few dated milestones explain the 2026 picture.

On 5 October 2010, SEBI issued a circular regulating the fees and charges of portfolio managers. Upfront fees were not banned until a decade later, which is why many older comparison tables online still show "entry loads" of 1% to 3% that no longer apply.

The big reset came on 13 February 2020. Under the SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2020, SEBI's February 2020 circular on fees and charges barred upfront fees of any kind, required brokerage to be charged at actuals, capped operating expenses (excluding brokerage) at 0.50% a year of the client's average daily assets, and capped exit loads at 3%, 2% and 1% in the first three years, with nothing after that. The same circular required portfolio managers to offer a direct on-boarding route on which only statutory charges apply, and to report performance net of all fees and expenses. The minimum investment of ₹50 lakh also dates from this framework.

From 1 October 2024, a further SEBI circular on digital on-boarding and fee disclosures made portfolio managers give every new client a fee calculation tool with multi-year calculations that include the high-water mark, and to add fee illustrations to the agreement showing outcomes when the portfolio rises, falls or stays flat. The July 2025 master circular consolidated these rules and confirmed that performance fees cannot be charged more often than quarterly.

The newest development is very recent. On 24 September 2026, SEBI's board approved new SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2026, replacing the 2020 rules. As reported, the package includes a new route for portfolio managers to invest client money in direct mutual fund plans with a ₹25 lakh minimum and a management fee capped at 1% of assets. The new rules had not been notified at the time of writing, so the fee caps described in this article are those in force today.

The result of this evolution is the fee menu: most established managers now publish two or three ways to pay, and you choose one when you sign.

Across ranking guides and published fee cards, the 2026 picture of PMS charges in India is fairly consistent, and PMS fees in India now follow a recognisable pattern. Industry guides put fixed fees anywhere from 0.25% to 2.5% a year, but the low end is rare among large equity strategies; the established names cluster at 2% to 2.5%. Here is how PMS fees in India break down by type.

The table below lists the fee menus that published data cards showed for six well-known strategies as of August 2026, alongside Marcellus's own published menu. These are headline terms only; always confirm in the disclosure document and the fee annexure before you sign.

Three patterns stand out. First, 2.5% is the most common fixed-only rate among these names, with 2% the main alternative. Second, the hybrid fixed leg is usually 1.5% (1.75% at Abakkus, 1% or 0.75% at Marcellus). Third, the hurdle is most often 8%, with 9%, 10% and 12% also in use; the higher the hurdle, the lower the fixed leg or the profit share tends to be.

The fixed fee is the simplest of all PMS management fees: a set percentage of your portfolio value, charged whether the portfolio rises or falls. In practice it is accrued on average daily assets and billed monthly or quarterly, but an annual view is the easiest way to see the rupee size.

So a 2.5% fixed fee, one of the most common PMS management fees, really costs 2.95% of your portfolio a year once GST is added, and a 2% fee really costs 2.36%. That difference of about 0.6 percentage points is worth ₹59,000 a year on ₹1 crore — the gap between, say, a 2.5% plan and the 2% fixed option listed for Buoyant Capital Opportunities.

Fixed PMS management fees have two important properties. It is predictable: you know the bill in rupees almost to the last digit. And it is indifferent to performance: in a year when the portfolio loses 10%, the 2.5% fee still takes another 2.95% off, so the investor ends down about 12.95%. In a year when the portfolio earns 25%, the manager receives the same fee and every rupee of outperformance stays with you.

Direct plans are where fixed fees come down. Marcellus, for instance, publishes a 1.50% fixed fee for direct clients on its own strategy page, against the 2% regular rate shown on the Marcellus Consistent Compounders data card. Because SEBI requires every portfolio manager to offer direct on-boarding, it is worth asking whether a lower direct rate exists for the strategy you are considering.

A pure PMS performance fee option charges no fixed fee at all. Instead the manager takes a share of returns above a minimum return, the hurdle. The most common published version among the strategies above is 20% of returns above an 8% hurdle, offered by Marcellus as a zero-fixed option and by Buoyant as its profit-share structure.

How much a PMS performance fee costs depends entirely on the year:

• Return of 6%: below the 8% hurdle, so the fee is zero.
• Return of 12%: 4 percentage points above the hurdle. On ₹50 lakh, the fee is 20% of ₹2 lakh, or ₹40,000, plus ₹7,200 GST.
• Return of 25%: 17 points above the hurdle. On ₹50 lakh, the fee is 20% of ₹8.5 lakh, or ₹1.7 lakh, plus ₹30,600 GST.

The high-water mark adds a second gate. SEBI's master circular for portfolio managers requires performance to be measured against the highest value the portfolio has reached on a fee date, over the life of the investment, so you do not pay a profit share twice on the same gains after a fall and recovery. Hurdle wording also varies: ASK describes a compounded hurdle, while Carnelian Capital Compounder's 20% option includes a catch-up clause. These details change the bill, so read them in the fee annexure; our separate deep dives on high-water marks and hurdle rates explain them in full.

The key point about a PMS performance fee is asymmetry. A performance-only plan costs nothing in flat and negative years and the most in strong years. If you are paying a manager mainly to protect capital in poor markets, that is attractive; if you expect a high-return strategy to deliver 20%-plus years regularly, it can become the most expensive option.

The hybrid fee structure combines a reduced fixed fee with a profit share. Among the named strategies, the common 2026 versions are:

• 1.50% fixed + 20% above 8% (ASK India Select; Motilal Oswal Value Migration lists 1.50% variable with 20% above 8%, 15% above 10% or 20% above 10%)
• 1.75% fixed + 15% above 9% (Abakkus All Cap Approach)
• 1.50% or 0% fixed with 15% or 20% above 8% (Carnelian Capital Compounder; the exact pairing is set out in its disclosure document)
• 1% fixed + 15% above 12% (Marcellus regular), or 0.75% + 15% above 12% (Marcellus direct)

In rupees, a hybrid of 1.5% fixed + 20% above 8% on ₹1 crore costs ₹1,77,000 a year (fixed fee plus GST) before any profit share, which is about ₹1,18,000 less than a 2.5% fixed plan. The profit share then kicks in only once returns, after the fixed fee, clear the hurdle.

A hybrid fee structure is not automatically cheaper. A high fixed leg combined with a 20% profit share above a low hurdle can produce the largest bill of all in a strong year, because you pay both. A hybrid fee structure with a low fixed leg and a high hurdle, like Marcellus's 1% + 15% above 12%, behaves very differently: in moderate years it is close to the cheapest option, and the profit share bites only in clearly strong years. Looking at the full hybrid fee structure, not just the fixed rate, is the only way to tell them apart.

To compare PMS charges like with like, the tables below apply five structures drawn from the 2026 menus above to the same portfolio and the same gross return:

• A: 2.5% fixed only (ASK, Motilal Oswal, Abakkus, Carnelian fixed options)
• B: 2% fixed only (Buoyant, Marcellus regular)
• C: 0% fixed + 20% above 8% (Marcellus variable option)
• D: 1.5% fixed + 20% above 8% (ASK, Motilal Oswal variable options)
• E: 1% fixed + 15% above 12% (Marcellus regular hybrid)

Assumptions: one annual fee period; fixed fee on the opening value; the performance fee is charged on the return left after the fixed fee, above the high-water mark and the hurdle, following the method in SEBI's FAQ illustration on performance fees; 18% GST on every fee; brokerage and operating expenses excluded, as they are similar across options. Real agreements accrue fees daily and may compound hurdles, so treat these as illustrations, not quotes.

Total fees including GST, with the investor's net return in brackets:

Because every fee here is a percentage, the rupee amounts simply double, and the net returns are identical:

Three lessons about PMS charges come out of these grids. In loss and flat years, the performance-only plan is cheapest and the 2.5% fixed plan is the most expensive. At a 12% gross return, which is close to long-run equity averages, the performance-only plan and the high-hurdle hybrid are cheapest, while the 1.5% + 20% hybrid costs nearly as much as a 2% fixed fee. At 25%, the order flips: fixed fees are cheapest and the 1.5% + 20% hybrid takes about ₹5.36 lakh on ₹1 crore, almost twice the 2.5% fixed bill.

One-year tables can mislead, because the high-water mark and hurdles interact over time. The next table runs the same five structures through three five-year paths on ₹1 crore, applying the high-water mark at each annual fee date:

• Choppy path: +25%, −12%, +18%, +8%, +30% (gross 12.75% a year; ₹1 crore grows to ₹1.82 crore before fees)
• Strong path: +22% every year (₹1 crore grows to ₹2.70 crore before fees)
• Weak path: +6% every year (₹1 crore grows to ₹1.34 crore before fees)

Total fees include GST; final values are after all fees in the model but before brokerage, operating expenses and tax.

Two things deserve attention. The spread in PMS charges is large: on the strong path, the gap between the cheapest and most expensive structure is about ₹23 lakh of final value on a ₹1 crore investment. And no single structure wins every path. The 2% fixed plan wins the strong path, the performance-only plan wins the choppy and weak paths, and the 1.5% + 20% hybrid is the most expensive or close to it on the two paths with meaningful returns. The figures show that the PMS fee structure you sign can matter almost as much as the manager you pick. Deciding which fits your expectations is a separate question we cover in our fixed-versus-performance guide.

The headline percentage is never the full set of PMS charges. Four other items sit on top.

GST at 18%. Every PMS fee attracts GST at the standard 18% rate, which was retained in the GST rate rationalisation that took effect on 22 September 2025. That is why a "2.5%" fee is really 2.95%.

Operating expenses up to 0.50%. Custody, fund accounting, audit and similar costs can be charged separately, but SEBI caps them, excluding brokerage, at 0.50% a year of your average daily assets. On ₹1 crore that is a maximum of ₹50,000 a year.

Brokerage at actuals. Every trade the manager makes carries brokerage and statutory levies. These are charged at actual cost, and SEBI also limits how much business a manager can route through itself or its associates and at what rates. High-turnover strategies carry a higher brokerage drag.

Exit loads. If you withdraw early, SEBI allows up to 3% in the first year, 2% in the second and 1% in the third, with nothing after three years. Actual 2026 loads among the named strategies are lower: 2% in year one at Motilal Oswal Value Migration, 1.5% at Abakkus, 1% at Carnelian, and nil at ASK India Select, Buoyant Opportunities and Marcellus Consistent Compounders.

Two items you should not see at all are an upfront fee, which SEBI has banned since 2020, and any charge not listed in the fee annexure of your agreement.

Putting these PMS charges together on ₹1 crore: a 2.5% fixed plan with GST (₹2.95 lakh), operating expenses near the cap (up to ₹50,000) and modest brokerage could approach ₹3.5 lakh a year, or around 3.5% of assets, in a year with no performance fee at all. That is the real hurdle a strategy must clear just to match a low-cost alternative.

For all the complexity, the 2026 environment for PMS fees in India is far friendlier to investors than it was a decade ago.

• Choice. Every named strategy in the comparison above offers more than one way to pay. An investor who expects steady, moderate returns can pick a hybrid with a high hurdle; one who wants predictability can pick a fixed fee.
• No upfront hit. With upfront fees banned, every rupee you invest starts working on day one.
• Hard caps on extras. The 0.50% ceiling on operating expenses and the 3%/2%/1% exit-load ceiling put a limit on surprises.
• Protection from double-charging. The high-water mark means a performance fee is paid only on fresh gains, not on recovering earlier losses.
• Mandatory fee calculators. Since October 2024, every manager must hand new clients a multi-year fee calculation tool and show fee illustrations for rising, falling and flat portfolios. You can now run your own scenarios before signing.
• Cheaper direct routes. Direct on-boarding carries only statutory charges at entry, and some houses publish visibly lower direct fees.
• Net-of-fee reporting. Performance reported to you must be net of all fees and expenses, so your statement shows what you actually earned.

The information needed to compare PMS charges is now largely available; the work is in putting it side by side.

Everything above comes down to one habit: putting fee menus side by side, in rupees, before you sign. That is the gap PMS Sahi Hai is built to close.

Fee terms on every strategy page. Strategy pages on PMS Sahi Hai list the fee menu next to the numbers. The Motilal Oswal Value Migration page, for example, shows a 2.50% fixed fee, a 20% performance fee over an 8% hurdle and a 2% exit load in year one, alongside returns, drawdown and a Nyra Score.

Side-by-side comparison. The compare tool lets you filter PMS, AIF and GIFT City strategies by category, fund house, benchmark, size and style, then line up to four strategies next to each other. That makes it practical to run the same ₹50 lakh or ₹1 crore scenarios across a shortlist.

Nyra for the fee drag you cannot see. Nyra, the platform's AI research tool, matches investors against 900+ tracked offerings by risk, fees and returns, and its portfolio review looks at overlaps, drift and fee drag across existing holdings. The portfolio health check is pitched at exactly this problem: "the full load: fixed, performance, and the hidden drag." Nyra is clear about its role: it is an analytical tool, not a SEBI-registered investment adviser, and its output is informational rather than personalised advice.

Straight answers on how the platform is paid. PMS Sahi Hai's fee disclosure page explains that it is an APMI-registered distributor paid an ongoing trail by the asset manager, with no upfront commission, advisory fee or platform fee, and that the exact rate for each strategy is shared in writing before you invest. It also says that if a direct plan genuinely beats going through the platform, it will tell you up front — the same direct-versus-regular question this article recommends you ask.

If you want the step-by-step calculation of a single fee bill, the companion guide PMS Fees Explained walks through it. Use this article for the market numbers, that one for the mechanics, and the platform to apply both to real strategies.

Data on PMS charges is better than it used to be, but it is not perfect, and the worked examples above have limits you should keep in mind.

• Fixed fees ignore bad years. A fixed-fee investor pays the full rate in a falling market, which deepens losses when they hurt most.
• Performance fees can be expensive in good years. In strong markets, profit shares can cost far more than a fixed fee, as the 25% and 22%-a-year scenarios show.
• A PMS charges comparison is hard to do like for like. Compounded versus simple hurdles, catch-up clauses, quarterly versus annual crystallisation and pro-rata high-water-mark adjustments all change the bill, and data cards rarely capture them.
• Third-party data can lag. Published fee cards are useful starting points, but they can differ from a house's own page. For example, the regular Marcellus menu on its website shows three options while a data card summarises them differently. The disclosure document and fee annexure are the final word.
• Our models simplify. Fees in the examples are charged annually on opening values, brokerage and operating expenses are excluded, and the hurdle is simple, not compounded. Your manager's fee calculator, which SEBI now requires, will be more precise.
• Fees are not the whole story. A cheaper structure on a weaker strategy can still leave you worse off. Fees should be compared alongside net returns, risk and consistency.

The 2026 numbers are clear enough to act on. PMS charges at most established strategies run 2% to 2.5% fixed, or a hybrid of roughly 1% to 1.75% fixed plus 15% to 20% of gains above an 8% to 12% hurdle. Add 18% GST, up to 0.50% in operating expenses and brokerage at actuals. On ₹1 crore, that typically means ₹2.4 lakh to ₹3.5 lakh a year in a normal year on a fixed plan, and anything from zero to over ₹5 lakh on a performance-linked plan.

The worked examples show that no structure is cheapest in every market. Fixed fees win when returns are high, performance-only plans win when they are low or choppy, and hybrids sit in between, with the hurdle level deciding which side they lean towards. Before you sign, ask for the fee calculator, run it at a loss, a flat year, a 12% year and a 25% year, and check whether a direct plan exists. Then run a PMS charges comparison across two or three shortlisted strategies rather than looking at one menu in isolation. Strategy pages on PMS Sahi Hai and the Nyra portfolio review make that comparison quicker, but the questions are the same wherever you ask them.

PMS charges are only useful to compare when you can see them side by side. Shortlist two or three strategies on the PMS Sahi Hai compare page, note each fee option, and run the same rupee scenarios through each before you commit.

If you already hold a PMS or are weighing your first, ask Nyra to review the fee drag across your holdings, or start with the first-PMS guide to check whether a ₹50 lakh allocation suits you. Then book a conversation with the PMS Sahi Hai team and bring your shortlist: the right fee structure is the one you have tested against your own numbers.