Insights on new-age investing.
Quant strategies, market-cap guides and wealth-building ideas — clear, jargon-free, and data-driven.
Why real market opportunities are hard to find
In 2000–02, Amazon tumbled by 90%. Obviously, many sold it. And today, it is a top US stock. How do you know when a business is right?
Why doing too much is holding back your returns
The ability to do nothing is so powerful for your portfolio Most investors believe that building wealth requires making lots of smart investment decisions. But what if the biggest contributor to your returns was the decisions you didn't make?
How to keep calm amid market volatility
Stay rooted in principles and don’t follow the herd Sir Isaac Newton is widely regarded as one of the greatest minds in human history. He formulated the laws of motion, developed calculus, and transformed our understanding of the physical world.
Why We Built Gear 6A for Mutual Funds — And How It Works
India's mutual fund industry now manages over ₹82 lakh crore. There are 2,500+ schemes across 44 AMCs. And with that many options, we've seen most investors do the same thing. They open App, sort by 1-year returns, and pick whatever's on top.
Smart Beta Strategies: What Investors Should Know Before Investing
As of August 2025, Indian mutual fund AUM is sitting at around ₹77 lakh crores and is on its way to cross ₹100 lakh crores very soon.
Process Matters More Than Outcome
I have spent nearly a decade of my life trading energy derivatives, and today I want to tell the story of my biggest win, which coincidentally was also my biggest mistake.
Is Market Cap the Best Way to Build an Index?
Nifty 50 is a free-float weighted index – a slight variation of market cap weighted wherein we exclude promoter or government ownership. It is the most popular index in India and over the last 5 years it has delivered close to 22% returns.
3 Books That Changed How I Think About Risk and Markets
Over the past two decades, I’ve built a quiet but consistent habit — reading.
All Nifty Bees Are Equal — But Some Are More Equal Than Others
The title, inspired by George Orwell’s classic Animal Farm, perfectly captures the essence of this blog’s topic – Index Funds.
Investing with Confidence by Prioritizing Fundamentals in Volatile Markets
Investing in the stock market is a roller-coaster ride. Recent global trade tensions, heavy outflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs), and weak corporate earnings have all contributed to an environment of heightened volatility. Weak inflow data from AMFI further indicates that investors are increasingly hesitant to commit capital.
How Has Gulaq Gear 6 Performed?
FY25 is now officially in the rearview mirror, and with that, our flagship portfolio — Gulaq Gear 6 — has built almost five years of a live track record.
Myopia
Myopia is an illness that prevents people from seeing distant objects clearly. It’s a very common condition—over ten million people suffer from it every year in India. While there are no official statistics, I am certain that this illness consumes far more people in the investment community than in medicine.
Problem of Investing with Star Fund Managers
Investors have long elevated certain fund managers to celebrity status, creating a cult-like following around them. These star managers wield immense influence over the investing community
SEBI Mandates Disclosure of Information Ratio for Mutual Funds
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in its latest circular, has mandated that all Asset Management Companies (AMCs) disclose a risk-adjusted return measure
The Sachet Revolution of The Mutual Fund Industry
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has released a consultation paper seeking public opinion on introducing sachetized mutual fund products—small-ticket SIPs of ₹250.
Long Alpha Performance Deep Dive: 2024
The year 2024 proved to be eventful for both the financial markets and Estee’s PMS – Long Alpha. We started the year with a bang, delivering approximately 10% return in January, significantly outperforming the BSE 500’s 2% return.
Gulaq Market Cap Portfolios
Gulaq is the retail investment advisory arm of Estee Advisors, a company with almost two decades of experience in creating quantitative investment products for institutional
Multicap vs. Felxicap: Which One Should You Invest In?
If you don’t understand the difference between multicap and flexicap funds, you’re not alone.
Skill vs. Luck – What Drives Investment Returns?
In stock market a good decision can lead to a bad outcome and a bad decision can lead to a good outcome. Luck plays a big role in investment outcomes but is often overlooked—sometimes intentionally.
The Evolution of Factor-Based Investing
Imagine you’re a student preparing for an important exam. What are the factors you think will determine your score?
How Investors Lost Money in Peter Lynch’s Magellan Fund
The Magellan Fund, managed by Peter Lynch from 1977 to 1990, is legendary in the world of investing. Under Lynch’s rein, the fund delivered an average annual return of 29%, making it one of the most successful mutual funds of all time.
Time In The Market > Timing The Market
Imagine if taking a few days off your work cost you your entire salary. Sounds extreme, right? Who would want to work in a place like that
Identifying Overvalued Stocks: A Proof by Contradiction Approach
Proof by contradiction is a logical method used in mathematics to prove a statement by assuming the opposite of what you want to prove. If this assumption leads to a logical contradiction or an absurd conclusion, then the original statement must be true.
Debt Funds Deep Dive
Debt Funds are funds that invest primarily in fixed income securities of government and corporates. As of May 2024, it has over Rs. 15 lakh crore in assets under management (AUM) – about 26% of the total AUM in the industry. In this blog, we are going to take a deep dive into debt mutual funds.
Equity Mutual Fund Deep Dive
SEBI classifies mutual funds into five broad categories: Debt, Equity, Hybrid, Solution-oriented, and Others. In terms of Asset Under Management (AUM), Equity leads the pack by a mile as the most popular option among investors.
Why Investors Are Hard-Wired for Short-Term Thinking
An analysis done by Reuters revealed that an average investor holds shares for a mere 5.5 months before selling them for an uncountable number of reasons.
Mutual Fund Categories Deep Dive
The Assets Under Management (AUM) of Indian Mutual Fund Industry stands at ₹57L Cr as on April 30, 2024, up from ₹41L Cr a year ago. That’s a massive year-on-year growth of 38%. In April month alone, we saw a net influx of ₹2.4L Cr. [Source: AMFI]
Estee Quant PMS Performance Deep Dive FY23-24
Estee Advisors was founded in 2008 with a vision of making investment decisions using sophisticated quantitative models. Over the past 15+ years, Estee has developed leading investment and broking products using analytics and computer science
Factor Investing Performance Analysis
FY23-24 was a great year for equity markets. Nifty 500 itself delivered more than a 40% total return.
Financial Planning for People in 20s
Your 20s are the decade where you lay the foundation upon which you build your future life. If you wish to build a castle, you must start laying a solid foundation early on.
Prospect Theory
As much as investors like to consider themselves rational, the fact of the matter is that most are unable to maintain their rationality when times get tough.
Tax Harvesting: How to Reduce Your Tax Burden?
FY 23-24 has been great for Gulaq. We were able to generate phenomenal returns for our investors, but with the financial year about to end, you’ll soon have to pay taxes on all those returns that you made.
Don’t Miss the Forest for The Trees: Why Maxing Out the Rs. 1.5 Lakh Limit on Your PPF Before 5th of April Is Not Worth the Hype
As the financial year has ended, the buzz around investing the entire Rs. 1.5 lakh limit into your Public Provident Fund (PPF) account before April 5th intensifies. While on the surface, it seems like a prudent decision. If you ask me, it’s not worth the hype. Let me explain.
Why Active Fund Investing is so hard?
Would you consider investing in a fund that has significantly trailed its benchmark over the past one year? Many would likely hesitate, although some might still be swayed if that fund has a strong historical track record.
Halo Effect can be Dangerous to your Portfolio!
Charlie Munger once famously said, "It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.
10-Year Performance Comparison of Large Cap, Mid Cap, & Small Cap
If you had invested Rs.100 each in Large-Cap, Mid-Cap, & Small-Cap, what would your investment be worth today?
Gulaq Gear 6 Performance Deep Dive of 2023
We launched Gulaq in 2020 as the retail arm of Estee Advisors Pvt Ltd. Estee had over a decade's worth of experience in building sophisticated quantitative algorithms for its HNIs and institutional clients.
Anchoring Bias
I remember back in 2010 when Steve Jobs introduced the first iPad to the world. It was a truly revolutionary product worthy of residing in anyone’s memories, but one thing that stuck with me the most was how he chose to reveal the price of it.
My Prediction for 2024 (or 2044?)
A few years ago, a journalist reached out to me to get my views on the expected market returns for the next year.
Goal Planning Done Right: The Appropriate Rate of Return to Plan the Future
Money is an imaginary concept! In itself, it has no value. It’s just a piece of paper or a number on your computer screen.
5 Market Calls Made by Howard Marks
Howard Marks is a well-known name in the world of finance. He is the co-founder and chairman of Oaktree Capital
How Warren Buffet made his first Million Dollars
Arnold Schwarzenegger once jokingly said, “The first million is the hardest to make, so start with the second”. Well, he might have said that in a humorous way, but it is somewhat true, the first step is always the hardest.
Herd Mentality Bias
Imagine you’re in a new city, hungry and trying to choose a place to eat. Two restaurants catch your eye—one bustling with a line of customers, and the other, nearly empty.
How Long Does it Take to Double Your Money?
Building wealth through traditional means depends upon two factors – how much you save/ invest and the rate of return on investment.
Overconfidence Bias
Do you consider yourself to have an above-average intellect? If so, you’re not alone. Approximately 65% of the people who were asked this question considered themselves
Backtesting Gulaq Gear-6
Backtesting is a fundamental tool used to evaluate the effectiveness of a trading strategy or investment approach by applying it to the historical market data.
Risks Associated with Investing in Gulaq Gear-6
Since we went live with Gulaq portfolios in May 2020, we have learnt quite a few things about this business.
Market Linked Debentures
Market-linked Debentures (MLDs) have largely remained unpopular in India due to their high ticket sizes.
Seven Math Concepts with Real-World Application
During our school days, we often asked our teachers how the concepts that we were learning were going to help us in life. Most teachers didn’t have an answer to that question and would simply dismiss us.
Risk of using 4% rule for your FIRE journey
When it comes to saving for retirement, you face plenty of risks – market fluctuations, rising living costs, risk of outliving your savings (longevity risk), etc.
Deep Dive into Fractional Real Estate Investing
Real estate is the most sought-after asset class in India. Every person in the country dreams of owning a piece of land, but the high capital requirements often make it inaccessible.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) – Commercial vs Retail
Real Estate is the most preferred asset class of Indians. It represents a significant portion of wealth for many individuals in the country.
House Price Index and its shortcomings
Housing Price Index (HPI) fails to capture the true movement in property prices.
Gulaq Balanced Investment Approach
Model portfolios have become a popular investment approach for retail investors lately. Investment Platforms such as smallcase
Setting returns expectations
A good investment plan starts with setting the expectations right. The importance of this grows multifold in this informative age
Advantages of Portfolio Management Services
Equity market is a growth oriented investment asset. There are multiple ways to invest in equity markets in India. Broadly there are 4 categories.
Myths and Reality of Quant investing
Would you let a machine or an algo choose the investment portfolio for you
Gulaq Gear 6 performance deep dive of 2022
Gulaq portfolios follow multi-factor investing. We track 130+ factors including fundamental, technical, and macro-economic factors in our portfolio construction process.
Discipline vs Luck in Markets – A Case study on Market Timing
What would be the first question you, as an investor, think when you are looking to invest in markets? In majority of the cases
Decoding Smallcase Returns
There is no doubt that smallcase has revolutionized investing for retail investors using model portfolios.
How to select the right smallcase portfolio?
While Technology has made investment advisory affordable, retail investors are increasingly shifting towards picking model portfolios
Best Smallcase to invest
A Smallcase is a collection of stocks. The smallcases are constructed by SEBI registered investment advisors.
Quant Investing
Quant investing or algo investing has really picked up investors’ interest over the last couple of quarters.
Best portfolio management services in India
Portfolio management service – often referred as PMS – can be availed by anyone who can invest a minimum of INR 50 Lakhs.
A deep dive into Gulaq Gear 6 Portfolio performance
We had spent years in building and refining our quant models for Gulaq portfolios. The algorithms have produced promising backtested results. It was in 2020, we have received a green signal to go live.
What is an emergency fund and how to invest in it?
Have you ever observed something while buying a new vehicle? They always give you multiple keys. You may keep driving your vehicle with a single key for years
3 Biggest Misunderstandings About Compound Interest
Compound interest is one of the most powerful forces on earth. It can do great things when used to create wealth. Understanding how compound interest works is an indispensable tool for living a wealthy life.