Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, May 2026 – Karthik Kumar has started a new role as Head – Systematic Investing at Bandhan Mutual Fund, bringing with him nearly two decades of experience in quantitative investing, systematic portfolio management, multi-factor research, and investment strategy development across global financial markets.
His appointment reflects the growing importance of quantitative investing and data-driven portfolio construction within the asset management industry. In his new role, Karthik will be responsible for strengthening Bandhan Mutual Fund’s systematic investing capabilities, driving quantitative research initiatives, developing innovative investment strategies, and expanding the firm’s offerings in factor-based and systematic investment solutions.
Prior to joining Bandhan Mutual Fund, Karthik spent seven years with Axis Mutual Fund as Fund Manager – Axis Quant Fund. During his tenure, he played a pivotal role in establishing and scaling the quantitative investing vertical. He was responsible for designing and implementing quantitative investment strategies, leading research initiatives, and developing the entire technology infrastructure supporting quantitative investing, including databases, testing engines, proprietary risk models, optimizers, and analytics platforms built on Python-based frameworks.
At Axis Mutual Fund, he also spearheaded product development and market education initiatives, contributing through research papers, industry articles, interviews, and conference engagements aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of quantitative investing approaches among investors and market participants.
Before returning to India, Karthik served as Portfolio Manager at Silvertree Investment Management, where he managed Asia-Pacific market-neutral equity long-short strategies using systematic quantitative models. His work involved developing multi-factor investment frameworks, Hidden Markov Models for market regime identification, proprietary risk models, and advanced portfolio optimization methodologies. He also developed country-specific investment strategies utilizing proprietary datasets and quantitative research techniques.
Earlier, Karthik spent more than eight years with Asiya Investments, where he helped build and manage investment portfolios with peak assets under management of approximately USD 750 million across long-only and long-short strategies for institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds. During this period, he managed Asia ex-Japan equity strategies, designed quantitative stock-selection models, developed proprietary risk frameworks, and represented the investment team in engagements with global investors and consultants.
His professional journey also includes an internship with DHL‘s in-house consulting division, where he worked on strategic profitability analysis, operational improvement initiatives, and financial modeling projects.
Karthik holds an MBA in Finance from Purdue University Daniels School of Business. His blend of investment expertise, quantitative research capabilities, technology-driven portfolio management, and global market experience positions him well to contribute to Bandhan Mutual Fund’s continued growth in systematic and quantitative investing.
About Bandhan Mutual Fund
Bandhan Mutual Fund is one of India’s leading asset management companies, offering a broad range of investment solutions across equity, fixed income, and hybrid asset classes. The fund house serves more than one million investor folios, including retail investors, high-net-worth individuals, and institutional clients.
With a strong reputation for investment excellence and customer-focused solutions, Bandhan Mutual Fund continues to help investors achieve better outcomes for their savings through disciplined investment processes, innovative products, and robust risk management practices.
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