PPFAS eyes 2030 listing, says early IPO would hurt employee ownership gains

PPFAS Mutual Fund plans to list by 2030, once all employee stock options are fully vested, said Chairman and CEO Neil Parikh at the 12th annual unitholders' meet in Mumbai. Listing earlier, he explained, would create a steep tax burden for employees, undermining the goal of broad-based ownership. 

The announcement comes amid speculation over a possible IPO, fuelled by rising valuations in the unlisted asset management space. 

Separately, the fund house unveiled plans to launch a Largecap Fund aimed at investors seeking broad diversification, predictable returns, and low costs — without the high conviction or tracking error associated with active strategies. 

“We launch funds only where we see a genuine investor need and meaningful differentiation. Largecap fits that principle,” said equity fund manager Rukun Tarachandani. 

Unlike traditional index funds, the new offering won’t rely solely on passive execution. Instead, it will apply smart strategies — such as buying futures at discounts, anticipating index rebalancing, and avoiding forced sales in demergers — to reduce inefficiencies that typically impact index investors. 

“Index funds play an extremely important role, but they also inevitably bear the impact cost created by traders who position ahead of rebalancing and corporate actions. Why should the end investor absorb these avoidable frictions every time?” said Rajeev Thakkar, CIO and Director, PPFAS MF.

Targeting index-like returns over the long term, the Largecap Fund will not chase alpha but aims to deliver better execution net of costs. For high-conviction bets, investors are directed to the Flexicap strategy. 

The fund will carry an expense ratio between 10-30 basis points, on par with the lowest-cost NIFTY 100 index funds. The NFO is slated for January 2026, pending regulatory clearance.