Masterclass
Masterclass: Building a Quant Fund From Scratch, Structure and Strategy
A founder-level blueprint for turning a set of profitable signals into an institutional quant fund in India. Covers the fund as a business (fees, costs and the AUM breakeven), the choice between a SEBI Category III AIF, a PMS, a proprietary desk and a GIFT City vehicle, tax and algo-trading regulation, strategy architecture and capacity on NSE, the research pipeline and alpha governance, fund-level risk, the data and execution stack, team and service providers, and raising capital from Indian family offices and institutional seeders. Built for senior quants, aspiring systematic fund managers and prop-desk leads who can already generate alpha and now need to build the firm around it.
Quant Fund EconomicsSEBI Category III AIFPMS and Prop StructuresGIFT City IFSCFund TaxationAlgo Trading RegulationStrategy ArchitectureCapacity AnalysisResearch PipelineFund-Level RiskData and Execution StackTeam and OperationsCapital Raising
MODULES
9
DURATION
~7 hrs
TRACK
Quantitative Finance
What You'll Master
Model the P&L of a quant fund and find the AUM at which it stops burning founder capital
Choose between a Category III AIF, a PMS, a prop desk and a GIFT City feeder using SEBI rules, tax and investor access
Design a multi-strategy alpha book sized to what NSE liquidity can actually absorb
Run a research pipeline with stage gates, backtest standards and alpha governance that survives an investor's due diligence
Build a fund-level risk framework with vol targets, drawdown limits, kill switches and a functioning risk committee
Specify the data, execution and research infrastructure and know what to build versus buy
Hire and pay a founding quant team, appoint the right service providers and run the operating calendar
Pitch Indian family offices and institutional seeders, negotiate terms and sequence a launch that protects the track record
Access Level
LEARNER
Everything included
Full Text Playbooks
Actionable Exercises
Mobile Reading Mode
Lifetime Updates
Curriculum Breakdown
Chapter 1: The Quant Fund as a Business
4 Lessons▶
What You Are Actually Building: Alpha Engine, Legal Wrapper and Operating Company11 min read
▶
The Economics of a Quant Fund: Fees, Costs and the AUM Breakeven Line12 min read
▶
The Indian Systematic Landscape: Category III AIFs, PMS, Prop Desks and Offshore Feeders11 min read
▶
Founder Readiness: Track Record, Capital and the 24-Month Runway10 min read
Chapter 2: Choosing the Legal Wrapper in India
4 Lessons▶
SEBI Category III AIF: Corpus, Sponsor Commitment, Leverage and Investor Rules12 min read
▶
Portfolio Management Services: Running a Systematic Strategy in Separately Managed Accounts11 min read
▶
The Proprietary Desk: Running Your Own Capital Without a Fund Licence10 min read
▶
GIFT City IFSC and Offshore Feeders: Reaching Foreign Capital11 min read
Chapter 3: Tax and Regulatory Architecture
4 Lessons▶
How Each Wrapper Is Taxed: Business Income, Capital Gains and the Category III Trust Problem12 min read
▶
SEBI's Algo Trading Framework and What It Means for a Fund11 min read
▶
Compliance Officer, Audits and Reporting: The Regulatory Calendar of a Systematic Fund10 min read
▶
Case Study: Structuring a 200 Crore Systematic Fund, Three Wrappers Compared13 min read
Chapter 4: Strategy Architecture, Designing the Alpha Book
4 Lessons▶
Defining the Mandate: Universe, Horizon, Leverage and Target Sharpe11 min read
▶
Alpha Families for Indian Markets: Cross-Sectional, Time-Series, Event and Derivatives Alphas12 min read
▶
Capacity Analysis: How Much Money Each Strategy Can Run on NSE12 min read
▶
Building the Strategy Portfolio: Correlation, Diversification and the Combined Book11 min read
Chapter 5: The Research Process
4 Lessons▶
From Idea to Production: The Research Pipeline and Its Stage Gates11 min read
▶
Backtesting Standards: Data, Costs and the Rules Every Researcher Follows12 min read
▶
Signal Library and Alpha Governance: Version Control for Alphas10 min read
▶
Case Study: Taking a Nifty 500 Momentum-Quality Alpha Through the Pipeline13 min read
Chapter 6: Portfolio Construction and Fund-Level Risk
4 Lessons▶
The Risk Framework: Volatility Targets, Drawdown Limits and Kill Switches12 min read
▶
Capital Allocation Across Strategies: Risk Parity, Sharpe Weighting and Drawdown Control12 min read
▶
Leverage, Margin and Liquidity Risk in Indian Derivatives11 min read
▶
The Risk Committee and the Risk Report: What Gets Reviewed and When10 min read
Chapter 7: Technology, Data and Execution Infrastructure
4 Lessons▶
Build vs Buy: The Quant Fund Tech Stack and What It Costs11 min read
▶
Market Data in India: Exchange Feeds, Vendors, Corporate Actions and Point-in-Time Fundamentals12 min read
▶
Execution Infrastructure: Broker APIs, Colocation and the Order Management System12 min read
▶
Research Infrastructure: Compute, Storage and Reproducibility10 min read
Chapter 8: People, Governance and Operations
4 Lessons▶
The Founding Team: Roles You Need on Day One and Roles That Can Wait11 min read
▶
Hiring and Paying Quants: Bonus Pools, Vesting and Retention11 min read
▶
Service Providers: Fund Administrator, Custodian, Trustee, Auditor and Legal Counsel11 min read
▶
The Operating Calendar: Daily, Monthly, Quarterly and Annual Cycles10 min read
Chapter 9: Raising Capital and Surviving the First Three Years
4 Lessons▶
Who Invests in Indian Quant Funds: Family Offices, HNIs, Fund of Funds and Institutional Seeders11 min read
▶
The Pitch: Track Record, the Due Diligence Questionnaire and Negotiating Terms12 min read
▶
Launch Sequencing: Soft Launch, First Close and the Track Record Trap11 min read
▶
Scaling and Strategy Decay: When to Add Capital, Strategies and People12 min read