Who was Siddhartha Bhaiya? Dalal Street’s smallcap specialist passes away at 47; the mind behind Aequitas’ long-term bets

Siddhartha Bhaiya, founder and managing director of Aequitas Investment Advisors and one of Dalal Street’s most closely followed stock pickers, passed away on December 31, 2025, following a sudden cardiac arrest while on a family vacation in New Zealand. He was 47, ET reported.“It is with profound sadness that we share the news of the passing of our Managing Director, Mr. Siddhartha Bhaiya, on 31 December 2025, following a sudden cardiac arrest,” Aequitas said in a statement.Bhaiya founded Aequitas in 2012 after leaving Nippon India Mutual Fund, where he had worked for nearly seven years as a fund manager. Over the next decade, he built the firm into a Rs 7,700-crore PMS and AIF platform, known for identifying smallcap and midcap companies at an early stage of their growth cycle.His flagship India Opportunities PMS Fund delivered a compounded annual growth rate of nearly 33% over 13 years, generating absolute returns of about 3,700%, making it one of the top-performing portfolio management strategies on Dalal Street, according to ET data.A chartered accountant (CA) by training, Bhaiya was widely regarded as a contrarian investor who combined value discipline with growth investing. He was known for avoiding crowded trades and for holding high levels of cash when market valuations appeared stretched. In 2025, his PMS was reported to be holding close to 80% cash for much of the year.“If anything, holding 80% cash is the easiest thing to do at this point of time. Given the valuations that the Indian smallcap is currently quoting at and the frenzy across investors about Indian capital markets, I don’t see any logic in being invested,” Bhaiya had told PMSBazaar in an interview cited by ET.In the last one to two years, he had become increasingly cautious on Indian equities, citing elevated valuations. At a public event last month, he described the prevailing market environment as a “bubble of epic proportions” rather than a sustainable bull phase.Reflecting this view, Aequitas had begun diversifying part of its portfolio into gold ETFs and overseas investments, reducing its dependence on Indian equities.“Siddhartha was the driving force behind Aequitas. He was not only a visionary investor, but also a builder of institutions — deeply committed to intellectual honesty, disciplined decision-making, and long-term thinking,” the firm said, adding that it remains aligned with his investment philosophy and long-term objectives.