Aashish Sommaiyya is the ED and CEO of White Oak Capital Asset Management Limited. He brings over two decades of experience navigating Indian and global markets, having built his career across major institutions including ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund and Motilal Oswal.
At White Oak, he oversees a research-driven, analyst-led investment process (35+ analysts covering ~1,100 companies) built around relative-return portfolio construction, capital-light free cash flow valuation, and a strong behavioral-finance lens on investing.
In this conversation, he shares his views on where Indian markets stand today, sector opportunities in manufacturing, healthcare and IT, how to approach global diversification, gold allocation, fund selection criteria, and the psychological discipline required to stay invested through market cycles.
Key topics covered:
• Why the worst may be behind Indian markets despite a turbulent two years
• The case for multi-cap funds for first-time investors
• Manufacturing, industrials, healthcare and financials as overweight sectors
• Global diversification — timing, allocation, and common mistakes
• FII outflows and what triggered their reversal
• Crude oil volatility and its market impact
• The IT sector's comeback and changing sector leadership
• India's role in the AI capex cycle
• Gold as a portfolio diversifier
•Building a portfolio from a first salary to a mature allocation
• How to evaluate and choose mutual funds (consistency over highest returns)
• Why PE ratio is a flawed indicator of value
• When to sell a stock vs. when to exit an underperforming fund
• Behavioral investing, EQ, and staying in the game
• Three career-spanning lessons from two decades in markets
Chapters
00:00 Introduction / Cold Open
02:04 Guest Introduction: Aashish Sommaiyya
02:28 Is the Worst Behind Us for Indian Markets?
04:21 Where Should You Invest Today: The Case for Multi-Cap
05:47 Why Corporate Earnings Held Up Despite a Flat Market
07:02 Sector Bets: Manufacturing, Industrials & Portfolio Construction
09:35 Healthcare: A Broad, Low-Beta Outperformer
11:46 Global Diversification: Why Timing Matters
16:47 Why Even India-Focused Investors Need Global Exposure
19:06 Building a Global Portfolio: Optimize, Don't Maximize
21:32 FII Outflows: What Changed and Why They Returned
24:49 Crude Oil Outlook and Price Volatility
26:31 Financials: Beyond Banks — Insurance, AMCs & Wealth Management
27:55 Bottom-Up Stock Picking: Where the Alpha Is Hiding
29:20 The IT Sector Comeback, Explained
32:52 AI Opportunities in the Indian Market
35:19 Gold Allocation for a Young Investor
38:38 Designing a Portfolio for a First-Time Investor (₹25–30k Salary)
39:47 Diversifying Beyond Multi-Cap as Income Grows
42:04 How to Choose a Fund: Consistency Over Highest Returns
50:49 Why PE Ratio Is a Myth as a Value Indicator
53:41 When to Sell: Exit Discipline
55:22 Underperforming Funds: Bad Patch or Game Over?
58:17 Should Market-Cap Allocation Chase What's Working?
59:38 Behavioral Investing: Managing IQ and EQ
1:02:16 What Return Should Investors Realistically Expect?
1:03:22 Three Biggest Career Learnings
1:08:03 Final Takeaway for Young Investors
1:08:30 Rapid Fire Round
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