'Ambition is to be among top 15 AMCs in India'

Sanlam Investment Group CEO Carl Roothman sees an opportunity to increase the group’s shareholding in Shriram’s asset and wealth management businesses. India is one of the three key markets for the firm, he tells Ananya Grover and Mahesh Nayak in an interview.

- Carl Roothman, Group CEO, Sanlam Investment

Excerpts:

What are your plans with Shriram?

Our focus is on emerging markets. South Africa, the rest of Africa and India are the three growth areas for us. The 20-year partnership that we have had with Shriram has actually been very successful. Today, there is an opportunity with Shriram to increase our shareholding in the asset management and wealth management business. Shriram had ambitions to deepen the penetration of financial services in the asset management and wealth management sides. Our strength is that we understand wealth management and emerging markets very well. We can use the brand and distribution of Shriram and bring our expertise — how we look at portfolio construction, our research capabilities and the investment strengths to make them successful. Our ambition is to be among the top 15-20 asset management companies in India.

What is the road map to achieve this ambition?