Daily Voice: Centrum's Manish Jain believes despite strong run, this sector remains an attractive opportunity

Manish Jain is the Head of Fund Management (PMS & Equity Advisory) at Centrum

Manish Jain of Centrum continues to remain 'constructive' on the power transmission space and believes that despite the strong run, this sector remains an attractive opportunity. "The transmission space will continue to witness strong growth in the near to medium term," he said in an interview to Moneycontrol.

According to him, globally, inflation will come back in 2025. Hence, the rate hike should ideally be in a pause mode by the US Federal Reserve, said the Head of Fund Management (PMS & Equity Advisory) at Centrum.

With US Federal Reserve looking like going on a pause mode and inflation remaining sticky, "we don't see any prospects of a rate cut by RBI in the near future," he said. Manish has over 20 years of experience in the Indian equities market, managing equity funds, driving high quality equity research and with expertise both on the buy and sell sides.

Is it the right time to take exposure to the power transmission and distribution theme?

In the last couple of years, the renewable space has witnessed a lot of activity. Significant capacity additions are planned. We do believe that the transmission space will continue to witness strong growth in the near- to medium-term. Moreover, power demand also continues to remain strong, rising in mid- to high-single digits month after month. So, we continue to remain constructive on the space and do believe that despite the strong run, this sector remains an attractive opportunity.

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Head of Fund Management (PMS & Equity Advisory)|Centrum

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Do you foresee a pause in the Fed funds rate cut cycle after the 75 bps cut in the last two meetings?

Till about a couple of months back, Street was optimistic and was factoring in 4-5 rate cuts in CY25. However, inflation in US continues to be a little sticky and above the Fed threshold. This, along with the possibility of tariff war with China and Mexico, make the prospects look a little bleak. We do believe that, globally, inflation will come back in 2025 and hence, rate hike should ideally be in a pause mode by the US Fed.

What are the factors that could force RBI to delay the rate cut cycle?

We do believe that despite all the nudging, RBI will continue to maintain a pause on rate cut albeit with a dovish undertone. With US Federal Reserve looking like going on a pause mode and inflation remaining sticky, we don't see any prospects of a rate cut in the near future.

Is the equity market still looking expensive? Do you foresee more tailwinds than headwinds for the market in 2025?

Equity markets have witnessed a decent correction from the peak in the last two months and, sectorally, many pockets of value have started to emerge. We do believe that long term fundamentals of both corporate India and economy, remain fairly strong. Consensus is expecting a strong double-digit earnings growth in FY26. Hence, risk-reward remains fairly evenly balanced. We would advise investors to buy on every dip as most of the concerns have played out and are priced in by the market.

Do you see any threat to India from the Trump administration?

While there is a lot of conjuncture being made in the market, we would wait for the policy decisions to be unveiled officially. Indian economy has remained fairly insulated in the recent past from the global turmoil. We do believe that prospects of higher tariffs have already been priced in by the markets and should not be a cause of major disruption or correction.

Where do you see the fairly balanced risk-reward?

We have been adapting a bottom up, sector agnostic approach to investment in the recent correction. Risk-reward seems to be fairly evenly balanced in several sectors including real estate, retail, healthcare and hospitality. These have been the sectors where we have witnessed major weight increases.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.