Centrum Wealth eyes Rs 50,000 crore AUM by FY21

Centrum Wealth Management, an arm of diversified financial services firm Centrum Group, has set an ambitious target of clocking a portfolio of Rs 50,000 crore over the next five years.The asset under management (AUM) of the city-based firm stood at around Rs 6,500 crore as of end-December and the company claims that it has been one of the best performers all through the five years of its operations, giving an average return of 26 per cent during the period. It manages assets of over 5,000 clients from over 2,000 families."We are looking at an AUM of Rs 50,000 crore by over the next five years. I am confident of achieving this, as we honed our skill-sets enough to spot the right asset/asset classes, which is visible from the fact that we have been growing at a CAGR of 30 per cent in the past five years."As a wealth manager we pick only mid-caps or beaten down large caps. But our best performing portfolios have always been mid-caps and small caps," its chief executive K Sandeep Nayak told PTI, adding he picks only beaten-down large caps only as a tactical allocation.He said his portfolio includes around 40 per cent each in equities and debt, 10 per cent in private equity, realty funds and corporate debt (NCDs) and the remaining portion goes get invested in alternative investment funds.Whether he is confident of repeating the high 30 per cent growth given the headwinds to the economy and the way the market has been bleeding of late, he sounded positive saying the most promising EM today is India given the way China, Russia and Brazil have been faltering.About the picks for the next few years, he named stocks from software, pharma, renewal energy and infra sectors. He is also very categorical in saying he will keep off state-run banks, realty, metals and mining stocks for the time being.