Certus India Opportunities Trust I — Certus Capital | wisefolio

Certus India Opportunities Trust I

Simplifying Institutional Real Estate Investing in India

IN/AIF2/20-21/0785Cat II

Private equity, private credit and real-estate funds that don't employ leverage except for operating needs. The largest AIF category.

Overview

About

Certus India Opportunities Trust I (IN/AIF2/20-21/0785) is a SEBI-registered Category II Alternative Investment Fund (registered April 2020) managed by Certus Investment Management Pvt. Ltd. — the AIF manager entity of Certus Capital, an independent, team-owned real estate investment management firm founded by Ashish Khandelia in July 2018. Certus Capital specialises in institutional real estate investing and lending in India, targeting opportunistic strategies driven by capital dislocation, credit scarcity, or structural inefficiencies in the market. The firm has advised on more than USD 1 billion of real estate investments since inception, leveraging the team's USD 3.0 billion+ of prior transaction experience at KKR, Morgan Stanley Real Estate, Kotak Investment Bank, and HSBC. Certus also operates Earnnest.me, a secured debt co-investment platform offering 14–15% IRR deals. The fund targets senior credit or control equity structures with uncompromising legal rights and strong governance. Certus India Opportunities Trust II (IN/AIF2/25-26/2035) is the successor fund registered February 2026.

Investment Philosophy

Certus Capital's investment philosophy is built on a disciplined, principal-oriented underwriting approach — treating every investment as if the firm is putting in its own capital. The firm targets strategies offering significant scale across business cycles that suffer from capital dislocation or limited institutional participation. Most deals are off-market and proprietorially constructed, emphasising: (1) senior credit or control equity structures; (2) strong governance with operational and/or monitoring control; (3) attractive entry basis driven by capital scarcity or dislocation; (4) opportunistic returns typically in the mid-to-high teen IRR range. Certus is willing to co-invest in every transaction to ensure full alignment of interest with its LP partners, and creates bespoke investor partnerships and managed accounts to match partner investment objectives.

Team— 10

Gaurav Singhal

CTO (Earnnest.me)

Gaurav Singhal is the Entrepreneur and CTO at Earnnest.me, Certus Capital's secured debt co-investment platform. He is an alumnus of IIT Bombay (2010).

Ashish Khandelia

Founder & SEBI Contact Person (Fund I)

Ashish Khandelia is the Founder of Certus Capital and the designated SEBI contact person for Certus India Opportunities Trust I. He has over 20 years of experience in real estate investing and lending. He founded Certus Capital in July 2018 after building KKR's India real estate platform from inception to a USD 1.0 billion+ business as Co-Head of Real Estate (2013–2018). Prior to KKR, he was Head of Acquisitions at Morgan Stanley Real Estate India (2006–2013), where he was among the first two Indian employees and was part of USD 700 million+ of equity investments including Oberoi Realty and Panchshil Group. He also worked at Kotak Investment Bank (2004–2006, establishing its RE investment banking practice) and Ernst & Young (1998–2004, assurance and investment banking). He holds an MBA from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and is a Chartered Accountant.

Anisha Babur

CS & Compliance / SEBI Contact Person (Fund II)

Anisha Babur joined Certus Capital in January 2024 and serves as Company Secretary and Head of Compliance. She has over 6 years of experience with in-depth exposure to compliance and company secretarial functions across financial services. She is the designated SEBI contact person for Certus India Opportunities Trust II.

Sahil Shah

Managing Director – Investments

Sahil Shah joined Certus in June 2019. An acquisitions professional with approximately 14 years of experience, he has deep underwriting expertise in real estate investments.

Siddharth Pal

Executive Director – Origination

Siddharth Pal joined Certus Capital in July 2022. He has over 9 years of advisory, fundraising, and debt experience.

Registration

SEBI Registration

SEBI-registered

Reg. NumberIN/AIF2/20-21/0785

VintageApr 2020 · 6 yrs old

Valid ToPerpetual

Contact PersonAshish Khandelia

AddressC-2802, Oberoi Woods,, Mohan Gokhale Road, Goregaon(East), Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400063

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Disclaimer

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