Centrum PMS

PMS Background

Centrum PMS is the portfolio management arm of the Centrum Group, a diversified and well-regarded financial services group founded in 1997 with established businesses across lending, broking, and investment management. Within investment management, Centrum has developed a clear orientation towards small- and mid-cap equities, where it has built credible research and portfolio management capabilities over time. The PMS is led by an experienced investment team comprising Anil Sarin and Abhishek Anand. Anil Sarin brings over 25 years of fund management experience, with prior tenures at leading institutions such as Birla, ICICI Prudential, and Birla, and joined Centrum in 2018, while Abhishek Anand has been associated with Centrum PMS since its inception. The core investment team is supported by a dedicated six-member research analyst team, providing depth across idea generation, due diligence, and portfolio monitoring.

PMS Investment Philosophy

Centrum PMS follows a structured, proprietary investment philosophy built around its internally developed EDGE framework, which is designed to systematically identify leadership businesses across market cycles. The framework combines quantitative filters with deep fundamental research and governance assessment, with the objective of identifying companies that demonstrate durable competitive advantages, execution capability, and long-term earnings visibility.

EDGE Framework

• Earnings Growth (E): Screening for businesses with minimum EBITDA growth of ~15%, ROCE of ~15% or higher, strong cash conversion with cash-to-EBITDA ratios of 65%+, and conservative balance sheets with leverage below 2x.
• Deep Dive Research (D): Detailed analysis of opportunity size, competitive positioning, scalability, and validation through channel checks.
• Governance (G): Assessment of accounting quality, historical capital allocation decisions, related-party transactions, and dividend policies.
• Execution (E): Evaluation of management track record, with emphasis on consistency between stated intent and actual delivery over time.

Leadership Definition

Using the EDGE framework, Centrum defines leadership businesses through a combination of qualitative and quantitative traits, including market share strength, promoter and management pedigree, operating margins and return ratios, brand and distribution advantages, sustained business growth with pricing power, and differentiation driven by R&D or technology.

Portfolio Construction Strategy

Centrum PMS follows a clearly defined portfolio construction approach by classifying investments into three distinct buckets—Quality, Value, and Growth—with the objective of maintaining broadly balanced exposure across all three styles. This structure is intended to reduce portfolio volatility while enabling participation across different phases of the market cycle.

• Quality (Stability): Established businesses with strong leadership positions and proven operating and governance track records.
• Value (Back-ended Upside): Counter-cyclical, contrarian, or special situation opportunities with significant upside potential.
• Growth (Alpha Generation): Emerging and relatively under-researched companies exhibiting leadership traits and high growth potential.

The equal-weighted allocation across Quality, Value, and Growth is designed to balance stability, near-term alpha generation, and longer-term upside optionality from deep value or emerging growth ideas.

Suitable For

Investors with a higher risk appetite seeking exposure to a small- and mid-cap focused PMS manager with a structured investment framework and diversified style-based portfolio construction.