Stockbroking is a unique business enabling millions of people to trade billions of dollars of stocks with unknown counterparties. All trades, in this highly regulated ecosystem, are executed seamlessly, settled correctly, and recorded meticulously. It’s fascinating to see how far India has come in making this ecosystem world-class and in some cases, the best in the world. In this podcast, Deepak and Shray discuss the nuances of stock broking and how proposed regulations will impact the...

Forecasting is a very difficult business, like selecting lottery tickets. No one could have predicted 2022 as a year in which there was geopolitical war, worldwide inflation, a massive hike in interest rates worldwide, and the US S&P 500 down about 20%, and yet, the Indian markets ended up 4%. If anyone got this spot on, they could still be terribly wrong for 2023. That’s why we don’t predict, we react. So, what’s going to happen in 2023? We can almost hear this question, despite all...

In this conversation with Shray, Deepak shares why he feels now is the time for India's concept of a Retirement Account - he calls it the MERA account. This account should help improve investment opportunities for retail customers, create a longer-term investment horizon and push people to save for their retirements. Listen in as we discuss: The concept of a retirement account Impact on the economy and people Imagining a retirement account scheme that works for India The operational aspect...

Of late, we have been discussing macro trends that affect the stock markets, the economy, and as an extension, the world. We have been zooming out to capture the big picture painted by investors, regulators, and the invisible hand of Mr. Market. In this episode, Deepak & Shray break from the trend and do something different. Rather than zooming out, we zoom in. We discuss two companies that are going through fascinating developments and make for an interesting discussion. LIC is a...

As we slowly settle into the post-pandemic era, one of the hallmarks of this period has been higher inflation than we have seen in the recent past. In response to rising inflation, central banks across the world have responded with a fierce interest rate hiking excursion. As a consequence, neither of the asset classes–stocks, or bonds, have performed well recently. It raises an essential question: how should we look at allocating our savings? That’s precisely what Deepak and Shray are here...

RBI released a discussion paper that said: We’ve let you good people live all this time with “free” payment systems, so should we allow banks to start charging now? Specifically for UPI, which has reached volumes of 10 lakh crore rupees per month? And should we charge merchants? Deepak's answer is a big NO. He firmly believes that the payments ecosystem (and the economy as a whole) will gain much more than any fees on UPI transactions will. As always, Deepak has a context to his argument and...

Recently, as of 7th September 2022, total Demat accounts in India touched the 10 crore mark. This is a staggering increase from 4 crore Demat accounts in Mach 2020. This alone is a testimony of increased participation and inclusion of individuals in Indian markets. More and more Indians, especially youngsters, are taking to investing in equities enabled by their smartphones - digital broking, increased information access, and social media influence. The whole securities (stock) market...

Markets are slaves of earnings and liquidity. Liquidity has taken prominence after the coronavirus outbreak. At first, central banks across the world increased liquidity by cutting rates and helping their populace to live through the pandemic. Then the after effects of increasing liquidity hit – increased inflation. Now, the same banks are sucking out liquidity by increasing interest rates to counter inflation. The looming after effect of increasing rates is the “r” word that is too pious to...

Crytocurrencies were all the rage in past few years on account of rising asset prices and volatility. Now, they are going through a bear market that has witnessed some popular currencies going totally bust. This pehnomemnon of an "asset class" going from hot to untouchable is not new. We've seen this again and again in different forms and proportions.  The current bear market in cryptos certainly impacts the investors, start-ups, promoters, and VCs who are directly involved in the crypto...

In this episode, Deepak and Shray unravel different aspects related to investing in gold.  Gold has been around as a store of value for a couple of millennia, probably longer, because of how little there is and how difficult it is to get out of the earth. Now get this - all the Gold mined would fit in a crate with sides of 21 meters. That’s roughly the length of three and a half standard containers. Yet, in the last decade, this scarce and loved asset class has done just enough to match...

Two engineers get together to discuss two life essentials - food and money! Our food expert is Krish Ashok. Ashok is Global Head, Digital Workplace at TCS. He is a techie, a musician and an author. He talks about the science behind food, the history of food and offers a lot of food for thought for us to explore further. If you are interested, a good starting point is his famous book - Masala Lab. Our money expert is Deepak Shenoy. Deepak talks about the importance of managing your finances,...

Today's episode is a crossover with The Seen and the Unseen podcast, hosted by Amit Varma. Amit and Deepak discuss how their careers - as creators - have evolved with the digital age. And their journey of discovering their own authentic voices. They take a first hand look at the creator economy and how it's shaping the media today.  2:32:00 onwards, they discuss key lessons in Deepak's new book, Money Wise, along with some behind-the-book stories.

What happens when a company goes bankrupt? Why do investors buy their stocks that are headed to zero? In this episode, we explore how the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has changed the game. Deepak explains the many nuances of current regulations and how they've evolved. We dive into examples such as Bhushan Steel, Sintex and Ruchi Soya - which we hope will give you clarity. Listen in and decide. Would you stay the hell away from such stocks, or start hunting for bargains? --- ...

There is a lot to unpack about this new digital currency RBI is talking about. Deepak and Shray built up the discussion by pondering over successive questions. Deepak takes us through how cryptocurrencies currently work. This sets up the context to the current ways of handling digital currencies and we move on to discuss the RBI-backed digital currency - Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Key Points  How CBDCs are not cryptocurrencies? And how are they different? Is CBDCs actually...

As Indians, we discuss Inflation only during elections which makes it less of transient and more of seasonal! But, as investors, we discuss inflation a little more. The latest reason for it is the hammering of growth stocks across markets which is blamed squarely on inflation. In this podcast, we understand the practical concept of Inflation with examples, its impact on your investments, its impact on our daily lives, and how it impacts different people differently. We promise, thinking of...

How do High Net Worth Investors invest SO much in IPOs? Nykaa's IPO saw Rs. 1,00,000 crores invested by the well heeled Indian investors. But not much of it is their own money - they borrow it. In this episode, Deepak and Shray unravel the dynamics of an IPO application for HNIs. From the rules of allocation, the big business of IPO funding, how HNIs can borrow 100X their money,  systemic risks, how grey market premium (GMP) works, the role of regulators and the road ahead. Read more here

On today's show, Shray asks Deepak about how to make sense of the past two years in the markets, macroeconomics, and the seeming irrationality of it all. They also talk about how to look at the year ahead.  Highlights 2021 bad year with all the lives lost, but it happened to be good for markets with the number of IPOs at an all-time high NIFTY returned approximately 23% and has been positive for the 6th consecutive year India being top-heavy, from the income distribution standpoint caused...

With technology comes great responsibility, says SEBI, as it attempts to regulate the algorithmic trading markets that have just started to evolve in India. APIs are standard in the web and app-based world, but SEBI doesn’t want you to manage your own money programmatically. Or, worse, to give it to someone else who is “unregulated” to manage your money through an algorithm either. In this episode we discuss SEBI’s recent consultation paper on algorithmic trading and how it impacts you.

How does P2P lending work in India? How safe is P2P lending? Deepak and Shray explore how the industry works, the risks involved and whether the returns are enough to justify the risks. Read the full transcript here: https://www.capitalmind.in/2021/11/how-do-p2p-lending-platforms-work-how-safe-is-it

Episode 41 - Deepak sits down with returning guest Ruchir Kanakia, the founder of the insurance distribution company OneAssure to discuss our favorite insurance product - term insurance.

Episode 40 and we’re speaking to the fintech firm that just raised 40 Million dollars last week - Smallcase! Deepak sits down with co-founders Vasanth and Anugrah to talk about creating a new way to invest in stocks, investment lessons from the pandemic and what’s up next from the Smallcase team.

What is a Portfolio Management Service? How does it really work? Do they actually benefit their clients? In this episode, Vashistha and Deepak explore PMS' through their experience of running one at Capitalmind. They explain how the operations work, the pros and cons of different fee structures, quantitative strategies and how PMS' are different from AIFs, Mutual Funds and Smallcases.

How do you plan for a smooth transfer of your wealth after you die? And how do you help someone whose loved one has passed on? In this episode, Shray and Deepak explore what you must do in an unfortunate circumstance of a loved one's death, and for an easy transition in case of your own. We also invite Harshavardhan Ganesan, a practicing lawyer, to give us the legal perspective. Listen in for real life anecdotes from covid, succession certificates, legal wills, and some counter-intuitive...

Are the recent problems - GME, Greensill and Archegos - signs of a damaged financial system that is so terribly fragile that a slightly bigger disaster can easily crush it? Like what Covid has done to the world's health system, are there more hidden risks in our financial system that can trigger a repeat of 2008? In this episode, Deepak and Shray explore what's happened in the US over the past few months, and examples of hidden leverage within India - from Harshad Mehta to Karvy, Zee, DHFL...

On today’s show, Deepak invites Vivek Subramanyam of LiveAltLife to discuss the one thing without which wealth means very little - health. Vivek breaks down the foundations of health to help avoid or even reverse lifestyle diseases as Deepak draws paralells on human behavior from the world of investing.