Varsity

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.

Buying a home is an aspiration for so many people, representing both a financial commitment and a personal milestone. However, the journey from purchasing to owning and eventually selling a property comes with several tax implications that can often be overlooked. In this article, we’ll break down the key tax considerations at each stage—buying, owning, […]

Educating traders and investors has been a core focus for us at Zerodha since day one. In 2024, we’ve ramped up these efforts with a variety of new initiatives, all aimed at helping people understand the markets and manage their money better. Our last update on content initiatives was in July, so we thought it […]

The recently introduced Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for Central Government employees has opened a flurry of questions on its impact. The back-breaking cost of guaranteed pensions is why the world has seen a movement away from guaranteed pensions. The introduction of UPS bucks this trend. Our analysis suggests that UPS will be a delight for […]

Here a list of stocks with direct exposure to the conflicting nations in the Middle East.

The Finance Minister announced several changes in the 2024 Union Budget that are intended to streamline and rationalize certain aspects of taxation, along with improving the ease of doing business in India. Several of these measures apply to capital gains and income for all tax-filing entities and, hence, would apply to the 30 million+ NRIs […]

The US central bank – the Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) – meets every other month to set short-term rates. Given the vaunted position held by the American economy and sheer size of assets linked to these rates, the meetings draw a lot of attention. It is understandable that rates, bond, and currency traders spend a […]

For the first time in modern India, the average household expenditure on food has fallen below 50% of the monthly expenditure. According to a survey on the changes in India’s food consumption, food purchases made 53% of the total expenditures rural households made in 2011-12, which came down to 46.5% in 2022-23.

Mutual fund schemes have two options while investing – Growth Plan and Income Distribution Capital Withdrawal (IDCW) erstwhile known as Dividend Plan. Usually, investments in mutual funds are made for long-term wealth creation. However, there are times when investments in Mutual Funds are made from the perspective of regular income. In that case, two options […]