In February 2016, I was in the middle of my CA articleship. I came across an article about mutual fund SIPs and started one for Rs. 1,000 a month — small enough that I forgot about it. Eighteen months later, I checked it almost by accident. It had grown at a 17% CAGR.
I know it was too short a period to draw conclusions. But what struck me wasn't the return — it was the concept. I had done nothing. I had simply kept investing and not touched it.
"Markets reward patience and discipline — not knowledge. My job is to make sure you stay the course when it matters most."
After qualifying as a CA and working in valuation and project finance consulting, I kept seeing the same two patterns repeat: people weren't investing because nobody had explained it clearly, and the people who were investing had no plan — so they redeemed every time they needed money, defeating the entire purpose of long-term SIPs.
These weren't investment problems. They were behavioural problems. And no product could solve them — only a relationship could. That is why I built Nandi Nivesh.
I did not inherit wealth. I did not get lucky with a stock. I started with Rs. 1,000 a month and increased my SIP every time my income grew — the only rule I have ever followed.
In between, life happened — marriage, a house in Pune, travel to multiple countries, market corrections in 2018, 2020, and 2022. I stayed invested through all of it.
Every investment I hold today is linked to a specific goal. I have extremely strong conviction in equities for the long term — not because I read it somewhere, but because I lived it.
I am not telling my clients to do something I have not done myself. That is the only kind of advice I am comfortable giving.