I am a 42-year-old entrepreneur with a portfolio of around ₹12 crore spread across equity mutual funds (55%), real estate (25%), debt mutual funds (15%) and 5% in savings account. While my investments have grown well, I feel my portfolio is becoming difficult to manage. How should I simplify my investments?
– Name withheld on request
Based on the available information, we will have to make some assumptions on how your portfolio is split to answer this question.
About 55% or ₹6.6 crore is parked in equity mutual funds. This is followed by real estate investments that make up around 25% of the investments ( ₹3 crore) and debt mutual funds and cash or other investments make up the remaining 20% (15% debt, 5% cash/other). However, it has to be redesigned to be easily accessible. A portfolio that has grown well is not the same as a portfolio that is well-structured.
Let’s take this one bucket at a time. Start by streamlining your equity holdings. Remove any overlaps, avoid duplication in the holdings across different funds, and if you can, consolidate all equity investments, especially if there are any small non-core investments in certain funds. This will help you with ease of access and give you a clearer, clutter-free picture of where your overall portfolio stands.
For debt, it is crucial to ensure the allocation in short-term or liquid options and review credit quality carefully.
Overall, the best way to structure these investments is by adding a layer of financial planning. Bifurcate your current corpus of ₹12 crore into goal-specific buckets and surplus. For a 42-year-old entrepreneur, this typically includes children's higher education, retirement corpus, a planned business reinvestment, and any near-term large expenditure. Assume this exercise assigns roughly ₹7 crore of the portfolio to goal-specific buckets. That leaves approximately ₹5 crore as surplus wealth — money beyond what the defined goals demand.
Surplus strategy
The ₹5 crore surplus then gets divided across three purpose buckets:
● Capital preservation (20% of surplus - ₹1 crore): Emergency reserve, near-term liquidity, and stable assets. Low churn, non-negotiable.
● Wealth growth (55% of surplus - ₹2.75 crore): Long-horizon equity and income-generating real estate.
● Legacy and estate (25% of surplus - ₹1.25 crore): Assets earmarked for intergenerational transfer, including jointly held property, nominated instruments, and any planned gifting.
This simple exercise will ensure that you have a more easily manageable portfolio in hand that continues to serve your current and future needs.
Nehal Mota is co-founder and CEO of Finnovate, a financial planning app
