The people behind the portfolio.

Manoj founded Hornbill Capital in 2014. He advises on investment decisions regarding the entry and exit of stocks and the sizing of investments. He also advises on portfolio performance and risk management.

The Fund advised by Manoj has won several awards including Emerging Markets Asia 2023 award from BarclayHedge, Indian Equity Asia Performance Awards 2021 from HFM, Investors Choice Award 2021 from Allocator and Top Performing Equity Strategy Hedge Fund in 2021 and Top Performing Emerging Markets Focused Hedge Fund 2020 award from Preqin.

The Fund advised by Manoj is also ranked in the Top 1 percentile for 1-years, 3-years, and 5-years returns in Asia ex-Japan by HFR and has significantly outperformed Preqin’s APAC-based L/S equity hedge fund benchmark as of December 2024 on 2-years, 3-years, and 5-years returns.

Manoj has 28 years of buy side experience and 5 years of strategic management consulting experience. Previously, he was the CEO of Avendus PE Investment Advisors since its inception in 2008 until 2014. At Avendus, Manoj delivered consistently superior returns in the two close ended public equity funds raised and managed by him in India.

Prior to Avendus, Manoj was based in Hong Kong for a decade. He was an Investment Director at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) — then Canada’s largest pension fund. He made private equity investments for CDPQ in the Asia Pacific region, including India. His investments in India include some of the leading media companies such as UTV and ENIL (Radio Mirchi) where he served as a Board member. He headed M&A at A.S. Watson (a retail business subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa) and was a Vice President at GE Asia Pacific Capital Technology Fund. Prior to moving to Hong Kong, Manoj was a Management Consultant with Tata Strategic Management Group, Mumbai.

Manoj holds a Master in Management degree from the Asian Institute of Management, Manila, MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, and Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay).

Jagdish co-founded Hornbill Capital in 2014 and has been managing its operations, finance and risk functions since its inception. Jagdish supports the entire operations and compliance activities including fund accounting and audit, investor reporting, risk management, trade settlements, regulatory compliance, etc. Jagdish has 30 years of experience across various fields including alternate investments, accounting, due diligence, risk management, compliance, business planning, audit and fund administration.

He has successfully managed finance and operations across startups and established businesses.

Previously, Jagdish managed operations as Vice President of GenNext Ventures, a venture capital fund of Reliance Industries Limited and Actis (a global PE fund) on secondment. He was the Executive Partner at ixCFO Services providing CFO services; Associate Director at Ernst & Young in transaction advisory services; and Senior Manager at RSM & Co. (merged with PwC) as auditor.

Jagdish is a Merit list Chartered Accountant (CA) from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Commerce graduate (B.Com.) from Mumbai University.

As a member of the Hornbill Capital investment team since 2016, Monica is actively involved in investment evaluation, conducting company research and business due diligence, generating investment ideas and monitoring investments. She has 23 years of equity research experience which includes buy-side as well as sell-side research. She brings investing experience in consumer internet, consumer products, retail, healthcare, auto, insurance, and agri-based industries.

Previously, Monica worked in the investment role with Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance (private sector life insurance) and sell-side equity research roles with Avendus Securities and Quantum Securities.

Monica holds a post graduate diploma in business management from the Mumbai Education Trust (MET), Mumbai and is a Graduate in Commerce (B.Com.) from the University of Mumbai.

As a member of the Hornbill Capital investment team since 2017, Sahil is actively involved in investment evaluation, conducting company research and business due diligence, generating investment ideas and monitoring investments. He has 19 years of experience in financial analysis across equity, credit and high-yield debt, with a significant part of career years spent in equity research. He has investing experience in the Internet, media, telecom, banking, education and information technology sectors.

Previously, Sahil worked with Axis Capital / Enam Securities, Prabhudas Lilladher, Darashaw & Co., Bank of America Continuum Solutions Limited and Development Credit Bank.

Sahil is a CFA® charter holder, MBA (Finance) from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies and is a Graduate in Commerce (B.Com.) from the University of Mumbai.

As a member of the Hornbill Capital investment team since 2024, Vaibhav is actively involved in investment evaluation on the private equity side. He has 9 years of experience in investment banking and equity research. He has experience across sectors covering consumer technology, consumer products, retail and real estate.

Previously, Vaibhav worked with Axis Capital, Government of Maharashtra, Ambit Capital and KPMG.

Vaibhav is an MBA from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, Chartered Accountant (CA) from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Graduate in Commerce (B.Com.) from the University of Mumbai.

As a member of the Hornbill Capital investment team since 2025, Chirag is involved in evaluating private equity investment opportunities, conducting commercial and financial due diligence, modelling, deal structuring and negotiation. He brings 7 years of experience in investment banking and due diligence, having advised clients across the telecom, media, technology, education, and consumer tech sectors on M&A and capital-raising transactions.

Previously, Chirag worked with Ernst & Young.

Chirag is a Chartered Accountant (CA) from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (B. Com.) degree from the University of Mumbai.

As a member of the Hornbill Capital investment team since 2021, Kunal is actively involved in investment evaluation and conducts company research. He has 5 years of experience in equity research. Kunal has equity research experience across sectors covering insurance, internet, banking, IT products and services. He has valuation experience in insurance, banking, NBFC, cement, and power sectors.

Previously, Kunal was with Baker Tilly DHC.

Kunal is a Merit list Chartered Accountant (CA) from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, passed CFA® Level III examination, student member of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and Graduate in Commerce (B.Com.) from the University of Mumbai.

As a member of the Hornbill Capital investment team since 2024, Akhil is actively involved in investment evaluation and conducts company research. Previously, Akhil was with PKEDAY Advisors, as a part of their core investment team. Akhil has also been a Manager, Strategy at Assa Abloy Group (Swedish Conglomerate with approximately USD11 bn revenue) before entering the world of equity capital markets.

Akhil holds a Bachelor of Science from the London School of Economics.

As a member of the Hornbill Capital investment team since 2025, Priyansh supports company research, sector analysis, and investment idea generation. He contributes to evaluating businesses and monitoring portfolio performance.

Priyansh holds a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.

As a member of the Hornbill Capital team since 2023, Priyanka is actively engaged in middle and back office operations, finance, accounting and regulatory compliances. She has over 4 years of work experience. Priyanka has experience in transfer pricing and related advisory services and statutory audits of various manufacturing companies.

Previously, Priyanka worked in the tax team of Ernst & Young.

Priyanka is a Chartered Accountant (CA) from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and has completed her Graduation in Commerce (B. Com) from the University of Mumbai.

As a member of the Hornbill Capital team since 2024, Nil is actively engaged in middle and back-office operations, finance, accounting and regulatory compliances. Nil has experience in private equity fund accounting and administration.

Previously, Nil was with the fund accounting team at Infosys and CSC Global.

Nil is a Chartered Accountant (CA) from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Graduate in Commerce (B. Com) from the Gujarat University.

Kartik Kini works with the Hornbill Capital team as an Advisor, providing strategic guidance on scaling the platform and building an institutional-grade business.

He brings close to three decades of experience across wealth management and private banking. Over his career, he has held senior leadership roles at Avendus, Deutsche Bank, DSP Merrill Lynch and Waterfield Advisors, where he has been involved in building and scaling client-focused platforms.