Kotak Private’s ‘Take and Counter Take’: When a Market Bubble Bursts…
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, September 29, 2026: When an asset bubble bursts, should investors seek access to private markets or hunt for distressed valuations in the public markets? This strategic divide took center stage at Kotak Private’s third edition of the 'Take and Counter Take', featuring a high-level discussion between Renuka Ramnath, Founder, MD and CEO, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, and Nilesh Shah, Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company.
Speaking on the theme, Oisharya Das, CEO, Kotak Private Banking, said the growth of private markets is giving India’s wealth creators a broader opportunity set, while also making portfolio-allocation decisions more nuanced.
“As India’s wealth creators navigate a broader and more evolved landscape, both public and private markets may offer investment opportunities. In today’s scenario, investors are faced with some pivotal questions - How can these opportunities play a distinct role in my portfolio? How do they serve my family’s objectives, risk appetite and liquidity preferences? Through Take and Counter Take, we bring together contrasting perspectives to help investors evaluate these trade-offs, exercise better judgement and make informed, long-term decisions,” Das said.
Addressing the optimal strategy during a market crash, Renuka Ramnath asserted that private markets offer a safe haven because investors retain active operational control. Rather than helplessly watching market capitalization evaporate in the public sphere, private equity investors can utilize affirmative clauses to dictate cash usage, accelerate or defer initiatives, and actively steer the company through severe macroeconomic blows.
"In an asset bubble crash, it could be better to be in private market because you are in control, you know what you're holding and you're not nervous," stated Ramnath. "When you're a public market investor, you're not sitting on the board, you're not driving the strategy of the company. You don't know what the levers are that those other than what they come out and talk to you. Whereas here we are sitting in the boardroom, we have many, many affirmative clauses in our document. We can decide how to use the cash in the company... We can decide what to accelerate, what to postpone, what to drop."
Conversely, Nilesh Shah argued that the immediate aftermath of a bubble is precisely when public markets offer unparalleled wealth creation. Reflecting on his years of experience, Shah noted how private company promoters may refrain from selling their businesses at a discount during crisis, public market investors typically tend to liquidate their portfolios even at lower prices.
"Post asset bubble, it makes sense to be in public market," Shah countered. "I haven't yet met a promoter who will come and sell his company cheap. But I can show you hundreds of investors who have sold their portfolio cheap."
Redefining the Private Equity Risk Premium
The discussion also challenged the conventional narrative that the higher fees and illiquidity of private equity are justified solely by astronomical growth projections. Ramnath noted that outsized returns often require intense crisis management, emphasizing that true value generation occurs when private equity managers step in to shield companies from catastrophic internal and external events.
"Almost in every investment, you will face a blow that you could not have planned for," Ramnath explained.
"It could come internally from the company, or it could come from macroeconomic environment."
“So how we manage and steer our companies through terrible periods of massive impact coming internally or externally and making good the return is very important.”
Shah reinforced that the line between public and private investing styles is beginning to blur, with active public market managers increasingly stepping in to enforce governance and prevent errors at listed companies. He revealed that Kotak AMC recently intervened in a publicly traded IT company's acquisition strategy, advising against a purely debt-funded buyout to reduce risk – a move that successfully protected shareholder value and caused the stock to rebound.
The Future of Wealth Allocation
Moderated by CNBC-TV18 Senior Editor Nigel D'souza, the forum provided high-net-worth investors with insights for modern portfolio construction. While their crisis strategies diverged, both experts agreed that investors must stop viewing public and private markets as an "either/or" proposition, stressing the importance of diversification across asset classes.
For investors transitioning from a purely public equity portfolio, Ramnath recommended scaling up alternate asset exposure gradually. She noted that over a five to seven-year horizon, an investor previously at 100% public equity could comfortably allocate up to 30% of their equity portfolio into the private market.
