Portfolio
Under the SEBI PM Regulations, the total holdings of securities and goods belonging to any person — the basket whose return is a weighted average but whose risk also depends on correlation.
In plain language
A portfolio is simply everything an investor holds, looked at as a whole.
Say you own five shares, two bonds, a mutual fund and some gold. These are not eight separate choices. They are one portfolio. And it is the portfolio as a whole that does well or badly.
The SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2020 give a legal definition. The workbook quotes it: portfolio means the total holdings of securities and goods belonging to any person. Note the word goods. Under the rules, a portfolio is not only securities.
The workbook also explains portfolio management. It involves selecting and managing a basket of assets that minimizes risk, while maximizing return on investments.
A portfolio manager is a body corporate, which means a company or similar legal body. Under a contract, it manages or runs that portfolio, or the client's money. It may do this by advising, by directing or by doing the work itself.
How it works
Return is a weighted average (Chapter 10, section 10.1.6). The return of a portfolio is the weighted average of the returns of the securities in it. The workbook's example gives 14.30%.
Risk is not a weighted average (section 10.2.2). Portfolio risk depends on the weights, the individual standard deviations and, "more importantly", the correlation across the securities. That is why combining assets with low or negative correlation reduces risk (Chapter 9, section 9.2). Correlation runs from −1 to +1.
Beta is a weighted average. A 60:40 portfolio of stocks with betas 1.2 and 1.1 has a beta of 1.16 (section 10.2.3).
How the portfolio is built and maintained (Chapter 9). Planning (Investment Policy Statement), execution (forecasting and portfolio construction), feedback (performance measurement). Because both investor needs and market forecasts change, the portfolio needs continuous monitoring and rebalancing.
What the client is told about it (Chapter 12, section 12.4.3). The periodic report — at intervals not exceeding three months — includes the composition and value of the portfolio, a description of securities and goods, the number and value of each security, units and value of goods, cash balance and the aggregate value of the portfolio on the report date.
Whose portfolio it is. In a PMS the investor directly owns the securities (Chapter 1). The portfolio manager must segregate each client's funds and portfolio from its own and must not hold client securities in its own name.
The formula
Portfolio return = Σ (weight of security × return of security)
Portfolio beta = Σ (weight × beta)
Portfolio standard deviation cannot be found this way; it needs the correlations as well.
A worked example
The workbook's own four-security portfolio (Chapter 10, section 10.1.6):
| Security | Return | Weight | Weight × return |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 15% | 30% | 4.50% |
| B | 10% | 20% | 2.00% |
| C | 12% | 20% | 2.40% |
| D | 18% | 30% | 5.40% |
| Portfolio | 100% | 14.30% |
Put rupees on it (illustrative): a ₹60,00,000 PMS portfolio with these weights holds ₹18 lakh in A, ₹12 lakh each in B and C, and ₹18 lakh in D. At the stated returns it ends the period at:
₹18,00,000 × 1.15 + ₹12,00,000 × 1.10 + ₹12,00,000 × 1.12 + ₹18,00,000 × 1.18 = ₹20,70,000 + ₹13,20,000 + ₹13,44,000 + ₹21,24,000 = ₹68,58,000
That is a gain of ₹8,58,000 on ₹60 lakh — 14.30%, exactly the weighted average.
What the table cannot tell you is how much the portfolio's value will swing. If A and D tend to fall together, the risk is higher than if they move independently — even with identical weights and returns.
Why NISM asks about it
The legal definition is in Chapter 12, section 12.4 (SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2020). The concept runs through the paper: Chapter 7 defines portfolio management and the portfolio manager; Chapter 9 covers asset allocation, correlation and rebalancing; Chapter 10 covers portfolio return, portfolio risk and beta — and its sample question asks for the expected return of a three-stock portfolio. Chapter 12's client report contents list what a portfolio statement must show.
Common exam traps
- The regulatory definition includes goods, not just securities.
- Portfolio return is a weighted average; portfolio risk is not. Correlation matters.
- Portfolio beta is a weighted average — do not confuse it with standard deviation.
- In a PMS the client owns the portfolio directly. The portfolio manager must not hold client securities in its own name.
- Reports go out at intervals not exceeding three months, and whenever the client asks.
- "Portfolio" in PMS is per client. A discretionary manager must manage each client's funds individually, in a manner that does not partake the character of a mutual fund.
Check yourself
1.Which statement about client securities under the SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2020 is correct?
- a)The PM may hold client securities in its own name if the contract permits
- b)The PM must segregate each client's funds and securities from its own and must not hold them in its own name
- c)The PM may pool all client securities with its own for efficiency
- d)Securities lending is allowed without client authorisation
Show the answer
Answer: (b) The PM must segregate each client's funds and securities from its own and must not hold them in its own name
The PM must segregate each client's funds and securities, keep them separate from its own, be responsible for safekeeping, and shall not hold client securities in its own name — "either by virtue of contract with clients or otherwise".
Securities lending needs the client's written authorisation.
2.Any person or entity involved in distributing portfolio management services must:
- a)Register with AMFI
- b)Obtain registration with APMI
- c)Register directly with RBI
- d)Have no registration, only certification
Show the answer
Answer: (b) Obtain registration with APMI
To facilitate collective oversight, distributors must mandatorily obtain registration with APMI, and portfolio managers must ensure this (SEBI circular of 2 May 2024). Distributors must also hold valid certification at all times — both are needed.
AMFI is the mutual fund industry body, a common distractor.
3.A portfolio manager offering non-discretionary services to an ordinary client may invest up to what share of that client's AUM in unlisted securities?
- a)Nil
- b)10%
- c)25%
- d)100%
Show the answer
Answer: (c) 25%
Non-discretionary or advisory services may invest or advise up to 25% of AUM in unlisted securities, in addition to securities permitted for discretionary management.
100% applies to large value accredited investors.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series XXI-BRelated terms
- BetaHow sharply a share moves relative to the market index — beta 1 moves with the index, above 1 amplifies it, below 1 dampens it. The standard measure of systematic risk.
- DiversificationSpreading an exposure across holdings that do not move together, so that total risk falls by more than total return does — minimising risk per unit of return.
- Portfolio Management ServicesA tailored investment service where the client owns the securities directly in their own name, regulated under the SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, with a minimum investment of Rs 50 lakh.
- RebalancingRestoring a portfolio to its target asset allocation after markets have pushed it away — which mechanically sells what has risen and buys what has fallen, with no view on market direction.
- ReturnThe reward for postponing consumption — the difference between what an investor gives up today and the larger amount received later, measured in several ways depending on the purpose.
- Portfolio managerA body corporate registered with SEBI that, under a contract with a client, advises on or manages that client's securities or funds — discretionary, non-discretionary or advisory.
- CorrelationA measure of the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables, running from -1 to +1, and the single factor that determines how much risk diversification actually removes.