It’s been nine years since we hit the trough post the 2008 crisis. No one would have ever imagined that a bull market would bring us this far, compounding return at 17% from a low of 8,160 (Sensex on March 9, 2009) to 33,835 as on March 14, 2018. Incidentally, the ensuing period also saw some reputed public fund managers hanging up their boots such as KN Sivasubramanian, who bid adieu to Franklin Templeton MF after a 20-year stint, even as others such as Kenneth Andrade, known for his mid-cap picks, moved out of IDFC Asset Management to start his own venture, Old Bridge Capital. Now it’s Sunil Singhania who is setting up his own firm, Abakkus Asset Managers. Singhania, who managed retail money for 14 years at Reliance Mutual Fund before moving to Reliance Capital, believes it is the right time for public fund managers to come into their own. “My belief is that increasingly investors will begin to look at the fund manager rather than the organisation,” says the 50-year-old, who topped the 10-year Outlook Business-Value Research ranking for individual fund managers in 2016. Just like Andrade, who today manages assets of over Rs.1,500 crore, Singhania is looking at starting out with an alternative investment fund. “Eventually, my goal is to create an asset management company,” says Singhania, who is renting out an office at the Bandra Kurla Complex.