Manu Awasthy spent over two decades managing wealth for India's ultra-rich at Citibank, IIFL Wealth, and 360 ONE before founding Centricity WealthTech in 2022. In under three years, he has built one of India's fastest-growing wealth management platforms, crossing ₹10,000 crore in AUM, onboarding 17,000 financial advisors across 70 cities, and raising a $20 million seed round led by Lightspeed at a $125 million valuation.

In this episode, Manu breaks down why India's wealth management industry is 20 years behind e-commerce, how most PMS and AIF products fail to beat a simple index fund, and why the laziest investors consistently win. He reveals the three levels of conflict of interest hiding inside India's most prestigious wealth firms, the structural reason why every wealth manager eventually becomes an asset manager, and why he has deliberately chosen not to. He shares Centricity's contrarian B2B2C model, his risk-first founder philosophy, and his bold vision for a single-window investment platform for India's global diaspora. He shared the full story in this candid, no-holds-barred conversation with host Akshay Datt.

Here is what you will learn in this episode:

👉Why 80 to 85% of PMS and AIF products underperform a basic index fund over 15 years, and what it means for every Indian investor

👉How Manu grew Centricity WealthTech from ₹20 crore revenue in Year 1 to ₹100 crore in Year 3, with 60% recurring ARR

👉The three hidden conflicts of interest inside India's biggest wealth management firms, and how Centricity is built to eliminate all three

👉Why India's passive investing penetration is near zero compared to 55% in the US, and the massive opportunity this creates

👉How Centricity's B2B2C model is turning 17,000 mutual fund distributors into full-spectrum wealth managers across tier-2 and tier-3 India

👉Manu's risk-first operating philosophy - why he says markets and geopolitics are uncontrollable, but asset allocation always is

If you found this episode valuable, subscribe to Founder Thesis for weekly conversations with India's most ambitious founders and investors. Follow host Akshay Datt on LinkedIn and X for real-time insights, episode drops, and founder stories you won't find anywhere else.

00:00 - Manu Awasthy and Centricity WealthTech Introduction

02:52 - India's Wealth Management Industry Explained Simply

11:20 - 85% of Fund Managers Fail the Index Test

34:50 - The Conflict of Interest Destroying Wealth Firms

47:30 - Wealth Management Is 20 Years Behind E-commerce

58:40 - India's Passive Investing Gap and the Opportunity

01:08:00 - Lazy Investors Win, Here Is the Math

01:13:00 - How Centricity's B2B2C Model Scales to 60,000 Advisors

01:19:30 - The NRI Wealth Corridor, India's Biggest Untapped Market

01:39:00 - Manu's Advice for Founders, Go Slow Grow Big

01:47:55 - Risk First, the Philosophy Behind Centricity's DNA

#ManuAwasthy #CentricityWealthTech #WealthTechIndia #IndiaWealthManagement #FounderThesis #AkshayDatt #PassiveInvestingIndia #IndexFundsIndia #PMSvsIndexFund #AIFIndia #WealthManagementStartup #IndianStartups #FintechIndia #HNIInvestingIndia #B2B2CStartup #IndiaWealthTech2025 #PrivateBankingIndia #MutualFundsIndia #FinancialAdvisorIndia #WealthTechFunding #LightspeedIndia #StartupFounderIndia #IndiaFintech #UHNIIndia #WealthManagementConflictOfInterest Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel