Stock picking strategy of UTI AMC fund manager Swati Kulkarni

She has been in the capital markets for nearly three decades, of which 26 years have been with the UTI AMC.

Swati Kulkarni is the Executive Vice President at UTI Asset Management Company (AMC). She is also an Equity Fund Manager at the AMC, a position that she has held since 2004.   

Before becoming a fund manager, she was part of the Fund Management team that analyzed companies across sectors, while assisting the fund managers. Moreover, as a part of the Research and Planning team at UTI, she has also done mutual fund research, market research, product reviews and quantitative analysis. 

So how does Swati Kulkarni pick her stocks? 

The fund manager selects companies based on their 'competitive franchise’. According to her, this franchise is built over a long period by fundamentally strong companies with well-managed capital structures. These attributes are reflected in low leverage, consistent revenue growth, focus on profitability as measured in terms of stable EBITDA margins, higher return on capital than cost of capital and consistent operating cash-flow generation.   

Apart from these attributes, she also looks at market dominance and the overall opportunity in the marketplace, product penetration levels, consolidation in the industry in which the company operates, brand and distribution strength etc.  

In her opinion, these factors provide the company's pricing power which is crucial to sustaining competitive advantages.