Masterclass
Masterclass Case Study: How a Founder Built an Indian Quant Fund From Zero AUM
This masterclass follows Nikhil Rao, a composite founder built from the real decisions Indian quant managers face, as he leaves a Mumbai prop desk and builds a systematic fund from zero assets. Every stage is worked through with Indian specifics: running a personal prop book on NSE through broker APIs, choosing between a PMS licence, a Category III AIF and a GIFT City structure, budgeting for a trustee, custodian, fund administrator and SEBI fees, turning a two-year prop track record into something an investor can audit, raising the first crore from people who trust him, surviving the first real drawdown with outside money, and scaling past the capacity of his own strategies. All fund figures, AUM milestones and returns in this course are illustrative and used only to make the arithmetic concrete. Built for senior quants, aspiring systematic fund managers and prop desk leads who want to know what the journey costs before they start it.
Fund StructuringCategory III AIFPMSTrack RecordCapital RaisingCapacityExecution InfrastructureRisk GovernanceFund Economics
MODULES
6
DURATION
~6.5 hrs
TRACK
Quantitative Finance
What You'll Master
Decide whether your strategy should stay a prop book, become a PMS, launch as a Category III AIF or go offshore via GIFT City, and what each choice costs in rupees and months
Build a track record that survives investor due diligence, with audited prop statements, realistic Indian transaction costs and a clear line between backtest and live
Assemble the minimum viable infrastructure for a live systematic fund on NSE, from broker APIs and colocation to reconciliation and kill switches
Raise the first crore and the first fifty crore from very different investor types without violating private placement rules
Run risk governance that holds when a drawdown hits outside capital for the first time
Model the fund as a business: fee income versus fixed costs, breakeven AUM, sponsor commitment and the capacity ceiling of each strategy
Access Level
PRO
Everything included
Full Text Playbooks
Actionable Exercises
Mobile Reading Mode
Lifetime Updates
Curriculum Breakdown
Chapter 1: Before the Fund
4 Lessons▶
Meet Nikhil: Six Years on a Mumbai Prop Desk and the Itch to Own the P&L12 min read
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The Prop Book Years: Trading Personal Capital on NSE Through a Broker API14 min read
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The Honest Audit: Separating Strategy Skill From Leverage, Luck and a Bull Market14 min read
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The Decision Memo: Why Nikhil Chose to Manage Other People's Money12 min read
Chapter 2: Choosing the Vehicle
5 Lessons🔒
The Indian Menu: Advisory, PMS, Category III AIF and GIFT City Compared16 min read
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PMS Economics: The Fifty Lakh Minimum and What It Means for a Quant14 min read
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Category III AIF: Sponsor Commitment, Trustee, Custodian and the Real Setup Bill16 min read
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Tax at the Vehicle Level: Why the Structure Changes the Investor's Net Return14 min read
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The Choice and the Timeline: Eleven Months From Decision to First Trade12 min read
Chapter 3: Strategy Stack and Infrastructure on a Shoestring
5 Lessons🔒
Three Strategies, One Book: Building a Stack That Survives Regime Change16 min read
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Data That Does Not Lie: NSE Bhavcopy, Corporate Actions and Survivorship Bias14 min read
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Execution: Broker APIs, Colocation and When a Fund Actually Needs Its Own Membership16 min read
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The Cost Model: Brokerage, STT, Impact and Why Backtest Sharpe Halves in Production14 min read
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Kill Switches, Reconciliation and the Two-Person Rule Before Any Outside Money14 min read
Chapter 4: The First Crore
5 Lessons🔒
What a Track Record Actually Is: Audited Statements, Not Backtests14 min read
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The Pitch Deck a Quant Should Not Write, and the One Investors Actually Read14 min read
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Friends, Family and Former Colleagues: Raising the First Crore Without Breaking Private Placement Rules14 min read
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The SEBI Filing: Placement Memorandum, Trust Deed and What Took the Longest14 min read
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First Trade Day: Twenty Crore, Eleven Investors and a Very Small Position Size12 min read
Chapter 5: Scaling Through the First Drawdown
5 Lessons🔒
Distribution in India: Wealth Managers, Family Offices and the Distributor Fee Conversation14 min read
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The Drawdown With Outside Money: Fourteen Percent Down and the Investor Call Script16 min read
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Capacity: When the Momentum Sleeve Started Moving Its Own Prices14 min read
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Adding a Strategy Versus Adding AUM: The Decision Framework at Sixty Crore14 min read
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The Hundred Crore Mark: What Changed in Operations, Compliance and Nikhil's Day12 min read
Chapter 6: The Fund as a Business
4 Lessons🔒
Fee Income Versus Fixed Costs: Breakeven AUM for an Indian Quant Fund16 min read
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Hiring the Second Quant and the First Compliance Officer14 min read
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Governance That Investors Pay For: Risk Committee, Valuation Policy and the Annual Audit14 min read
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What Nikhil Would Do Differently: A Founder's Post-Mortem at Year Four14 min read