Assets under management

The total size of a lender's or asset manager's book, including for a non-bank the loans it has sold down but continues to service.

A lender growing from ₹23,000 crore to ₹28,000 crore has expanded 21.7%, which sits in the healthy band of 15% to 25% for an Indian non-bank.

Growth much above 40% is where quality risk lives. Underwriting standards are the easiest thing to relax when a growth target has to be met, and the loans written in the fastest year are the ones that default in the third.

Compare growth in the book to growth in provisions. If the second is not keeping pace, the first is borrowed.