Pitch The PM Podcast, Part I featuring: Sonu Chawla, CFA

Short Overview

Sonu Chawla, Co-Portfolio Manager at TimesSquare Capital Management, joins host Doug Garber to discuss her journey from a small town in India to managing a multi-billion dollar mid-cap growth equity portfolio in Midtown Manhattan. The conversation spans her path through technology consulting, TimesSquare's analyst-driven investment process, and the firm's newly launched active ETF — anchored throughout by a philosophy of intellectual curiosity, disciplined research, and unwavering conviction.

Timestamped Sections

0:01 – 4:35 - From India to Midtown Manhattan — A Non-Linear Path to Portfolio Management00 – Introduction & Market Backdrop

Summary

Sonu traces her path from a small town in India, where her aptitude for mathematics earned her a place at the Indian Institute of Technology — India's equivalent of MIT — where women comprised just 1–2% of the student body. After graduating with a master's in mathematics and computer science, she was recruited by Deloitte Consulting to New York, where years of analyzing business models and management strategy from the inside out sparked her ambition to become an investor.

Key Takeaways

• Sonu's early exposure to markets through family discussions in India sparked a lifelong passion for equity investing that she would ultimately turn into a professional career.
• Her formative years at IIT, where she was part of a 1–2% female minority — instilled a resilience and work ethic that has defined her approach to every challenge since.

4:35 – 9:06- Breaking Into Asset Management — Mentorship, Skeptics, and the Value ofTemperament

Summary

After five to six years at Deloitte, Sonu pursued her MBA and CFA to transition into investment management, a move met with significant skepticism. She channeled that doubt into motivation, earning her first break from a female portfolio manager who recognized parallels in her background. Sonu reflects on the humbling nature of investing, being right 51–54% of the time constitutes excellence and credits mentorship and temperament as the true differentiators over a long career.

Key Takeaways

• Breaking into asset management without a traditional finance background required Sonu to convert external doubt into motivational fuel — a mindset she continues to carry as a PM today.
• Temperament and intellectual curiosity matter as much as analytical skill in investing; even the best investors are right only slightly more than half the time, making resilience and self-awareness essential traits.

10:01 – 13:29 - Why Mid-Cap Growth — The Data Behind the Sweet Spot

Summary

Sonu makes a data-backed case for mid-cap growth equities as a durable, alpha-rich opportunity set. Over the last 25 years, mid-caps have returned approximately 9%, outperforming large caps (~8%) and small caps (below 8%), with 14% less risk than small caps. On a rolling five-year basis, mid-caps outperform large caps 57% of the time by 373 basis points and outperform small caps 92% of the time by 186 basis points, validating TimesSquare's two-decade focus on the space.

Key Takeaways

• Mid-cap equities offer a historically compelling risk-adjusted return profile — outperforming both large and small caps over 25 years while carrying meaningfully less volatility than small caps.
• TimesSquare's two decades of dedicated experience in this space gives the firm a structural edge in identifying quality growth companies before they are broadly recognized by the market.

14:05 – 29:07 - An Analyst-Driven Process Built on Domain Expertise and Disciplined Research

Summary

TimesSquare's investment process is built around 18 investment professionals averaging 22 years of experience, conducting approximately 1,500 management meetings per year. Senior analysts are domain specialists who construct mosaic-style, 360-degree views of their coverage areas. Sonu illustrates this through the firm's early investment in argenX (ARGX) which was purchased when the company carried negative $600M EBITDA, based on the conviction of a healthcare analyst with a PhD in immunology. By 2025, argenX had grown revenues from $445M to $4.2B and flipped to $1.2B in positive EBITDA.

Key Takeaways

• TimesSquare's qualitative, analyst-driven approach allows the firm to invest behind high-quality companies earlier in their profitability journey — capturing alpha that purely screen-based or profitability-threshold peers may miss.
• Deep domain expertise is the firm's "secret sauce": specialized analysts with industry-specific backgrounds bring a level of conviction and pattern recognition that cannot be replicated through quantitative screens alone.

29:27 – 31:56 - The Launch of the TSCM ETF, Meeting RIA Demand for Tax-Efficient, Active Mid-Cap Exposure

Summary

In December 2025, TimesSquare launched the TimesSquare Quality Mid-Cap Growth ETF (ticker: TSCM), a concentrated 30 – 40 holding portfolio sitting between the firm's diversified mid-cap strategy (60 – 80 holdings) and its ultra-concentrated Focus portfolio (15 – 20 holdings). Built in direct response to RIA and wealth management demand for a tax-efficient, higher-conviction vehicle, the ETF is priced at 55 basis points, a competitive entry point in what the firm views as an underserved active mid-cap growth space.

Key Takeaways

• The TSCM ETF was purpose-built to serve the RIA and wealth community, offering a tax-efficient, actively managed vehicle that fills a meaningful gap in the mid-cap growth ETF landscape.
• At 55 basis points, TSCM is competitively priced and draws from the same rigorous investment process that has driven TimesSquare's institutional investment over two decades.

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