Varsity

Out of every 100 claims filed with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), 28 were rejected in FY23. Out of many reasons for rejection, ‘service overlap’ is one. But fortunately, EPFO has come out with a circular that ‘service overlap’ can’t be the sole reason to reject any transfer claims. Here’s a quick explanation of […]

In its fourth quarter and FY25 results, IndusInd Bank reported a decline in its CASA ratio from 38% last year to 32.8% this year. A decline in this ratio is concerning when the absolute deposits have also fallen, and that is what has happened with IndusInd Bank. Its CASA deposits have fallen from Rs. 1.46 […]

Investing in the US stock market lets investors tap into global companies (Google, NVIDIA, Apple, etc.) and diversify portfolios beyond domestic investments. Indian investors particularly benefit from the returns of their US holdings and the appreciation of the US dollar against the rupee (~13% in the last five years).   For Indians there have been two […]

In a significant move towards enhancing economic collaboration, India and the United Kingdom have proposed the Double Contributions Convention (DCC) alongside the recently finalized Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This agreement aims to address the complexities surrounding social security contributions for Indian nationals working in the UK. Here, we explore the key benefits of the DCC […]

Early morning on Thursday last week, I woke up to a phone call from my parents. It was a day after India-Pakistan tensions had escalated. My mother asked, “Do you have cash on you? I know you usually only pay by cards or UPI, but there are rumors. They are attacking our payment systems now. […]

The government’s DigiLocker is now much more than a place to store your Aadhaar, driving license, and PAN. You can also save all your financial documents there. Not just that, in your absence, your family doesn’t need to struggle to get access to your financial assets. Instead, everything – from stocks and mutual funds to […]

The Union Budget for the financial year 2025-26 was announced on February 1st, with some key updates relevant to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). While taxation remains a primary area of interest, the budget also introduced significant policy reforms and enhancements for GIFT City, India’s offshore financial center. This blog breaks down the key takeaways for NRIs […]

Imagine this scenario: A joint demat account or a mutual fund account is created with someone else. But what happens if one of the joint account holders passes away? Who gets the share of the deceased account holder—the surviving joint holder or the legal heirs of the deceased? Well, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of […]

While many concerns have been raised about credit growth outpacing deposit growth and, hence, building risk in the banking system, the Indian banking system seems to be showing signs of strength. In September 2024, industry-level Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPAs) hit a 12-year low of 2.6%. Last year, the system-level GNPA was 3.2%. If a borrower […]

The Indian Rupee is technically a free-floating currency. Practically, it is a managed free-floating currency.  What does this mean? And why does it matter to you and me? As the exchange rate is inching closer to ₹86/USD, the INR is at its weakest. It is natural for the public to demand action from RBI, the […]

When it comes to health insurance plans, every policyholder has one essential requirement—transparency from the insurer.  Everyone seeks a health insurance provider who will be upfront about a policy’s drawbacks, exclusions, and probable suitability. Let’s be honest about it, health insurance policy documents are a maze—a deadly combination of legalities, medical terminologies, and financial jargon.  […]

In one of the classes on financial reporting and analysis, my professor once asked us, “In a company’s annual report, what is the difference between an unqualified Opinion and a Qualified Opinion?” Our first reaction was that unqualified sounds like an unverified or unreliable opinion, and qualified sounds like a certified or verified opinion. Our […]

So far in this series, we’ve only explored the long-only aspect of trend following. However, since we are using derivatives anyway, there is nothing stopping us from going short as well. But should you? The US-centric discussion around trend-following typically assumes that you go both long and short. The kicker for Indian domiciled traders is […]

Our previous post on trend-following used cross-correlations to pick a diverse set of assets and then split the time series to arrive at asset-specific lookback periods to power a binary on/off signal. There are a few drawbacks to this approach: Indian rules and regulations allow a very narrow set of assets to be traded. Being […]

With global markets more accessible than ever, many Indian residents are curious about investing in US equities or trading in futures and options (F&O). However, these transactions are governed by FEMA regulations and fall under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). In this blog, we address some frequently asked questions about how Indian residents can participate […]

If you’re an investor or have ever engaged in financial transactions, you’ve likely encountered the term Know Your Customer (KYC) and might have found the process to be tedious. However, there’s more to it than meets the eye. This post delves into the history of KYC in India, tracing its evolution and how it has […]

Part I and Part II of our trend-following series illustrated the value of diversification and how it can be used to reduce portfolio drawdowns. The challenge is finding uncorrelated instruments as an Indian-domiciled trader. Irrespective of how you slice it, Indian equity indices are correlated to each other, we only have a handful of commodity […]

The GIFT City has been a hot topic in India’s finance scene for nearly a decade. Short for Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, GIFT City is India’s first smart city and International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), located between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat. It was set up in 2015 with big ambitions: to become a global […]

If you’re an NRI, managing finances in India can be tricky, especially with the various account types and investment options to consider. In this post, we’ll break down everything you need to know about NRE, NRO, PIS, and Non-PIS accounts and also discuss why NRIs from the U.S. and Canada face restrictions on investing in […]

A problem while using a single instrument for trend-following is that it tends to go through multiple years of flat returns after a drawdown.

While the Indian business grew only 11%, the newly introduced power supply contract to Bangladesh added another 19% to the business growth.

If you’re thinking about buying gold jewellery as an investment, it’s not the best option. You’ve probably heard this before. The making charges and the gold wastage that occurs during the making of an ornament increase the overall cost, which you might not fully realize later if you decide to sell or exchange it in […]

The simplest construction of a trend-following strategy is to take the moving average of closing prices over a certain period of time and…

We typically think that a country’s wealth is determined by its climate or natural resources. However, Nobel Prize-winning research has shown that strong institutions—like fair laws and effective governance—are even more crucial. In 2024, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for their research, which highlighted how […]

Many people argue that correlations among asset classes have increased post-Covid and diversification is not needed anymore.