Personal Finance Lessons People Still Ignore
The post warns that Indian consumers repeatedly buy poor‑value products like ULIPs and endowment policies despite years of expert criticism. It highlights the same pattern in health‑insurance purchases, where complex clauses often lead to unexpected out‑of‑pocket costs. Even with instant access to analysis via Google or AI tools, many still fall for these offers. The author cites a Zero1ByZerodha video that outlines the biggest investing and insurance mistakes to share widely.
Since 2020, MTF and Options Outpace Cash Market Growth
Since 2020, India’s cash equity market has shown little growth, while options trading has accelerated, especially after BSE introduced options in 2023. Margin Trade Funding (MTF), which began gaining traction in 2019, has expanded rapidly, with the book now around...
Direct Retail Ownership in Equities Is Stagnating
From December 2025 to March 2026, Indian individual investors sold roughly ₹13,000 crores (about $1.6 billion) of direct equities, while the firm’s clients were net buyers of a similar magnitude. Retail participation has shifted almost entirely to mutual funds, leaving direct retail ownership flat...
A Visit to Victoria Memorial and the Indian Museum
A family group visited Kolkata’s Victoria Memorial and the Indian Museum, highlighting the city’s reputation as India’s premier museum destination. The Victoria Memorial, opened in 1921, showcases British‑era architecture built with Indian marble and funds, while the Indian Museum offers...
Consistent Fund Inflows in a Mixed Market
Mutual fund inflows in India stayed robust through a mixed market in early 2026, with equity, hybrid and index funds all recording net monthly inflows measured in billions of rupees. The data, shown in Nithin Kamath’s Substack post, indicates that retail...
Auction Markets on Kite
Zerodha’s Kite platform opened retail participation in Indian stock‑exchange auction markets in 2023, allowing investors to buy shares during short‑delivery events at a premium. About 25,000 of the broker’s roughly 17 million clients have used the feature in the past year,...
How Farmers for Forests Is Rethinking Tree Planting
India’s recent heat wave highlighted the climate cost of deforestation, prompting a spotlight on Farmers for Forests (F4F). The nonprofit has scaled agroforestry from 50 to 5,000 acres in six years and secured funding to reach 40,000 acres within three...
What the Data Actually Says About F&O in India
The Indian futures‑and‑options (F&O) market remains tiny relative to the broader investor base. In March, roughly 30 lakh (3 million) participants traded an F&O contract, and the full FY26 saw about 20 lakh active F&O traders, representing just 1‑2% of the 13 crore (130 million)...
Screens Are Rewiring How Kids Think
A growing body of research shows that pervasive screen use is reshaping children’s cognitive habits. Short‑form video platforms condition rapid attention shifts, while prolonged exposure can erode deep‑reading and problem‑solving skills. Parents often rely on devices as pacifiers, creating early...
Varsity Junior: Understanding Risk and Reward
Zerodha has expanded its educational arm, Varsity Junior, to teach financial concepts to children through story‑driven videos. The platform now allows parents to open minor brokerage accounts, giving kids a hands‑on experience with investing. The latest episode tackles risk and...
The Irony of Having to Pay to Show up for Your Own Name
Zerodha discovers it must purchase its own brand keyword to appear at the top of Google and app‑store searches, otherwise rivals’ ads capture the prime position. The practice forces the broker to pay for visibility even when customers are explicitly...
10 Years of UPI
Nithin Kamath marks a decade of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), noting that the government‑backed BHIM app commands only about 1 % of UPI transactions despite being the flagship offering. He recounts Zerodha’s repeated internal debates about building its own UPI solution,...
Rainmatter’s Long-Term Bet on India’s Future
Rainmatter, launched in 2016 by Zerodha founders, has become a major catalyst for India's capital‑markets ecosystem, deploying roughly ₹1,500 crore (about $180 million) into more than 160 startups across fintech, climate, health, media and deep‑tech. The firm earmarks 10% of Zerodha’s earnings...
How Global Investors Are Thinking About India Today
Global investors are pulling back from India, citing heightened geopolitical risk, especially vulnerability to oil price shocks, and a lack of compelling AI investment opportunities. Valuations are viewed as rich, while a weakening rupee further erodes appeal. Recent tax reforms—higher...
The Mismatch Between Social Value and Market Value
During a dinner with Dr. Devi Shetty, founder of Narayana Hospitals, the author notes the chain’s market capitalisation of roughly ₹38,000 crore (about $4.6 billion). By contrast, Indian fintech platforms such as Zerodha—whose primary product is a brokerage service—trade at higher valuations despite...