What a real NEPSE portfolio manager charges, and how a fake 'advisor' scam differs
Nabil Invest asks Rs 5 lakh minimum and a written 2-year contract. A fake 'advisor' asks for your Mero Share password and nothing in writing. The difference that matters.
A message like this circulates every few months in Nepali investing groups: someone claiming years of NEPSE experience offers to "manage your portfolio" for a monthly fee, promising a fixed return and asking, almost as an afterthought, for your Mero Share login "so I can place the trades for you." It reads like a lighter, friendlier version of hiring an actual portfolio manager. It isn't. It's the same request stripped of every safeguard that makes the real version accountable.
Nepal does have a real, licensed portfolio management industry, run by merchant bankers under SEBON's supervision. It looks nothing like the chat-group version, and knowing the difference is the fastest way to spot the fake one.
What a licensed portfolio manager actually is
Portfolio management in Nepal is not its own separate licence category. It's one of several services a SEBON-licensed merchant banker can be authorised to provide, alongside issue management, underwriting, and corporate advisory. Roughly 32 merchant bankers currently hold a SEBON licence, though not every one of them runs a portfolio management line. A SEBON notice from June 2019 named 29 firms explicitly authorised for portfolio management at the time, urging investors not to deal with anyone outside that list; the roster has likely changed since, so check SEBON's current intermediaries page rather than relying on a name from an old article.
The legal basis sits in the Securities Act, 2063, which requires a licence to carry on a securities business, and in the Portfolio Management Directives, 2069 (2012), which sets out how a licensed manager must structure the arrangement. That structure, not the fee itself, is what actually separates a real service from a scam.
What it actually costs
Real numbers from firms currently offering the service:
| Firm | Minimum investment | Contract term | Fee structure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nabil Invest | Rs 5,00,000 | 2 years minimum | Management fee + performance fee above an 8% hurdle (roughly the government-securities rate); 3% exit load for early termination |
| NIC Asia Capital | Rs 3,00,000 (pooled funds) to Rs 10,00,000 (bespoke) | Not fixed publicly; confirm at signing | 0.75% to 2% annual management fee; 6% to 20% performance fee above hurdle; 1% exit fee |
| Garima Capital | Rs 10,00,000 (cash or share-equivalent) | Not fixed publicly; confirm at signing | Marketed at zero annual management fee as of its 2024 launch |
Every one of these numbers sits in a public product page or a signed contract, not a verbal promise. If someone offering to "manage your portfolio" cannot tell you their minimum, their fee, and their SEBON licence number before you commit any money, they are not running a lighter version of what Nabil Invest or NIC Asia Capital does. They are running something else.
The signatory arrangement, not your personal password
Here is the detail that trips people up: a real portfolio manager does take some control of how your account trades. Nabil Invest's own arrangement has the manager become the signatory on the account for the length of the contract. That sounds, on the surface, close to what a scammer asks for. It isn't, for one structural reason.
A licensed manager's signatory authority is arranged formally, through your broker and DP, documented in a contract governed by SEBON's directive, tied to a licence you can verify independently, and time-limited to the contract term you agreed to. A scammer's request is none of that. It is your personal Mero Share or TMS username and password, handed over in a chat, with no contract, no licence check possible, and no institution behind it beyond the individual asking. The Mero Share mistakes post on this blog already flags exactly this pattern: sharing your login with a "broker friend" or self-styled advisor hands over the keys to your portfolio with no accountability attached.
If someone asks to manage your money, the question isn't only "will they take control." It's "is that control being taken through a licensed, contracted, checkable process, or through your personal password."
The tells that separate the two
| Real portfolio management | Fake "advisor" |
|---|---|
| Licence number checkable on SEBON's site | No licence, or an unverifiable claim of one |
| Written contract under the Portfolio Management Directives, 2069 | No contract, or a vague verbal arrangement |
| Disclosed management and performance fees | A fixed monthly or daily "guaranteed" return |
| Formal signatory arrangement through your broker/DP | A request for your personal Mero Share or TMS password |
| A named institution with an office and a regulator to complain to | An individual reachable only through a chat app |
Verifying and reporting
Before you hand over money or access, check the name against SEBON's published list of licensed intermediaries at sebon.gov.np. This is the same check the pump-and-dump and tip-group post walks through in more depth, including how to file a complaint with SEBON or the Nepal Police Cyber Bureau if you've already lost money. The verification step is identical whether you're checking a tip-group admin or someone offering to manage your whole portfolio; it's worth doing before either.
Being honest about the evidence here matters. Nepali press has documented plenty of tip-group pump-and-dump cases with named operators and rupee figures. A retail investor losing money specifically to a fake portfolio manager, as distinct from a tip channel, is not something this research turned up a documented, named case of. SEBON's 2019 warning suggests the regulator considered the risk real enough to act on. That the public record is thinner here than for tip groups is worth knowing, not something to paper over with a dramatic anecdote that isn't sourced.
What you actually need to know
- Real portfolio management is licensed, written, and fee-disclosed. Nabil Invest, NIC Asia Capital, and Garima Capital all publish minimums and fees before you sign anything.
- A signatory arrangement is not the same as handing over your password. The real version runs through your broker and DP under a checkable licence; the fake version wants your personal login instead.
- Verify before you commit, using SEBON's published list, the same check that applies to any unlicensed tip channel or advisor.
Got a specific offer or "advisor" you want a second opinion on before you commit? Email me at parjanya57@gmail.com.
This post is part of the Nepal Money Basics guide — the Invest the Surplus section.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a licensed portfolio manager actually do in Nepal?
- Portfolio management is one of several services a SEBON-licensed merchant banker can be authorised to offer, alongside issue management and corporate advisory. Roughly 32 merchant bankers are currently licensed in Nepal, though not all of them run portfolio management specifically; SEBON's own intermediaries page is the current list, and a June 2019 notice named 29 firms explicitly authorised for it at the time. A licensed manager runs your money under a written contract governed by the Portfolio Management Directives, 2069, not an informal chat arrangement.
- How much does real portfolio management cost in Nepal?
- It varies by firm but follows a pattern: a minimum investment in the Rs 3 lakh to Rs 10 lakh range, a written contract usually running at least two years, an annual management fee, and a performance fee above a hurdle rate. Nabil Invest asks a Rs 5 lakh minimum, a 2-year minimum contract, and charges a performance fee above an 8% hurdle (roughly the government-securities rate), plus a 3% exit load for leaving early. NIC Asia Capital's minimums run Rs 3 lakh to Rs 10 lakh depending on the product, with a 0.75% to 2% management fee and a 6% to 20% performance fee above its hurdle. Garima Capital has marketed a Rs 10 lakh minimum with zero annual management fee. None of this is free, and all of it is written down before you sign.
- Does a real portfolio manager ever need my Mero Share password?
- No, not the way a scammer asks for it. A licensed manager becomes an authorised signatory on your account for the contract term, arranged formally through your broker and DP under the written PMS agreement, with a licence number you can check against SEBON's list. Someone asking you to simply hand over your personal Mero Share or TMS username and password over chat, with no contract and no licence, is not doing a lighter version of the same thing. It is asking for the keys with none of the paperwork that makes the real version accountable.
- How do I verify someone claiming to manage portfolios is actually licensed?
- Check SEBON's published list of licensed merchant bankers and portfolio managers at sebon.gov.np. If the person or firm offering to manage your money is not on it, they are operating illegally, full stop. The [pump-and-dump and tip-group post](/blog/nepse-pump-and-dump-telegram-tips-nepal) covers the verification and reporting mechanics in more depth, since the same check applies to both an unlicensed advisor and an unlicensed tip channel.
- What should a real portfolio management contract include that a scam never has?
- A licence number you can independently check against SEBON's list, a written agreement under the Portfolio Management Directives, 2069, a stated minimum investment and contract term, a disclosed fee structure (management fee, performance fee, hurdle rate, exit load), and a named institution with a physical office and a regulator to complain to. A scam typically has none of these: no contract, a promised fixed monthly or daily return, and a request for your personal login instead of a formal signatory arrangement.
- Has anyone in Nepal actually been scammed by a fake portfolio manager?
- SEBON's own 2019 notice warning investors against unauthorised portfolio managers implies the regulator saw enough risk to act, and the credential-sharing pattern is common enough that the [Mero Share mistakes post](/blog/mero-share-demat-mistakes-nepal) on this blog already warns against it directly. That said, unlike NEPSE's tip-group pump-and-dump cases, Nepali press has not documented a named case of a retail investor losing money specifically to a fake portfolio manager, as opposed to a paid tip channel. That gap in public reporting is worth being honest about; it does not mean the risk isn't real, only that it is harder to point to a specific victim.
Related reading
How paid Telegram and Viber stock-tip groups and pump-and-dump operators work in NEPSE, what Nepal's Securities Act actually punishes, and how to spot the trap.
With 6.8 million demat holders and IPOs issuing 12–30 lakh shares, SEBON's 10-kitta rule forces a lottery. Recent IPOs hit 21x–38x oversubscription.
79,000 investors had money stuck when SEBON suspended a broker in April 2026. What actually happened to their shares, and what CDSC custody protects you from.