3 March 2021
The Emerging Asia Pacific Capital Markets: India
After a massive capital markets transformation, India has two of the largest stock markets in the world and an expanding asset management industry. But further improvements will be needed for India’s markets and economy to achieve their potential.
The Emerging Asia Pacific Capital Markets: India
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The Indian capital markets have experienced a significant structural transformation since India opened its economy to the world in the 1990s. Today it boasts two of the world’s largest stock exchanges—NSE and BSE—and is considered one of the most preferred investment destinations for international capital, as evidenced by continued growth in foreign investments. In addition, the asset management industry has seen massive growth, with increasing interest from domestic retail investors. These developments can be attributed to a series of supportive steps undertaken by the Indian government, regulators, and policymakers, which adopted a more business-friendly stance. That said, India is still far away from tapping the full potential that it can achieve. Its fixed-income and commodity markets are still shallow, with fewer incentives for market participants. Moreover, the exchange-traded fund industry is still in its infancy when it comes to investor awareness and market structure. In order for Indian markets to achieve their full potential, stakeholders need to come together and take steps that can remove bottlenecks and ensure that the huge amount of savings available in the economy is harnessed sufficiently to power the growth engine, as the Indian economy grows toward achieving the $5 trillion target.
This article is from "The Emerging Asia Pacific Capital Markets: Challenges and Opportunities," published by CFA Institute Research Foundation.
About the Authors
Rajendra Kalur, CFA, is an independent consultant and financial educator. Using his extensive experience in the financial services domain, he mentors first-time entrepreneurs and offers training on such subjects as leadership, entrepreneurship, and wealth management. Previously, Mr. Kalur was the founding director and CEO of TrustPlutus, a boutique wealth management firm. He also has worked in various capacities at RBS N.V., ABN AMRO N.V., Wealth Advisors India Pvt. Ltd., ICICI Prudential AMC, DSP Merrill Lynch, and General Insurance Corporation of India. Mr. Kalur serves on the boards of CFA Society India and Multi-Act Trade and Investments Pvt Ltd. He is also a certified Ethics Trainer. Mr. Kalur holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management, United Kingdom, and a postgraduate diploma in marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, United Kingdom. He is also a long-distance runner and cyclist.
Shwetabh Sameer is an investment professional with over 7 years of experience in the financial industry. In his current role as a Lead Data Scientist with the Morningstar Quantitative Research team, he is primarily involved in solving complex data science problems using traditional and alternative data sources, and developing informed methodologies for creating investment products.
In his previous role as an Applied Researcher with the Behavioral Science team, he conducted statistical analyses and survey research on the financial behavior of retail investors and investment professionals. In addition, during his time as a Senior Quantitative Analyst with Morningstar Indexes, he worked on various factor- and sustainability-based solutions used for creating ETFs, structured products, notes, asset allocation, and benchmarking funds.
Shwetabh has a bachelor’s degree from BITS Pilani and a post graduate degree from Purdue University. He has also completed certification courses, including CFA, FRM and CIPM.