Download 1% Club App Now! https://dl.onepc.io/2Hh8/fws-yt-girish Most Indians know exactly one way to invest — the stock market. Girish Lakhotiya has spent his career building on the other side of it. A Chartered Accountant who began his career at Citibank in corporate banking, he left in 2009 at the peak of the subprime crisis, returned to Pune, and started over with a CA practice and financial advisory work. Over the next 16 years he built the Prachay Group as a first-generation, bootstrapped entrepreneur — starting an RBI-registered NBFC in B2B lending in 2017, launching a Category II AIF in 2021, securing a debt broking licence, and building Bondsmart, a SEBI-registered online bond platform. Today the group operates a full-stack debt ecosystem, from helping businesses raise capital to connecting them directly with investors. In this episode, Girish breaks down the Indian bond market with unusual clarity. He explains why a market of 55 lakh crores has only 2% retail participation while mutual funds sit at 60%, why India’s bond market is roughly one-twelfth the size of its equity market when developed markets run them neck and neck, and how a bond is simply a loan to a company with a fixed tenure, fixed interest and fixed payout frequency. He walks through why creditworthy businesses often cannot raise money from Indian banks — collateral-driven lending, consortium banking, and an allowable error rate for bankers that makes risk-taking structurally unattractive — and why that gap is exactly where corporate bonds step in. If you are building a portfolio beyond equity mutual funds and stocks, or you are an entrepreneur trying to understand debt funding as an alternative to giving away equity, this episode fills in a part of personal finance and capital markets that rarely gets discussed in India. Guest's Socials: Social Media - Insta - https://www.instagram.com/girish_lakhotiya/ LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/girishlakhotiya Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@girish-lakhotiya/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61593960816713 X (Twitter) - https://x.com/girishlakhotiya Threads - https://www.threads.com/@girish_lakhotiya Bondsmart: Download from App Store - https://apps.apple.com/in/app/bondsmart/id6748641468 Download from Play Store - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.prachay_securities.bond_smart_wp&hl=en_IN Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bondsmart_official/ Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@bondsmart Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bondsmartofficial/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/thebondsmart/ The 1% Club Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onepercentclub LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-1-clubfws Sharan Hegde Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/financewithsharan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharanhegde95 Twitter/X: https://x.com/financewsharan — Sharan Hegde is a personal finance creator & founder of the 1% Club, simplifying money, markets, and mindset for India’s next generation of wealth builders. — 00:00 - Highlights 01:11 - Growing Up in a Lower-Income Household 01:41 - From CA to Citibank to Building a Debt Ecosystem 03:13 - The Mindset Shift: “I Will Be Rich at 55” 04:10 - Why Longevity Matters More Than Quick Money 06:09 - Price vs Value: Charge 25 Paise, Deliver ₹1 06:36 - Why People Lose Money After Earning It 07:06 - Money Is Still a Taboo Subject in India 08:14 - Tracking Your Inflow and Outflow 09:09 - Needs vs Desires: Where to Cut Expenses 10:46 - His Mission: Making India the Biggest Economy by 2047 11:29 - Why India Already Has Everything It Needs 12:31 - Why He Chose the Bond Market Over the Stock Market 13:43 - How Bonds Channel Money Directly Into Businesses 14:49 - How Big Is India’s Bond Market? 16:27 - Why India’s Bond Market Is 1/12th of Equity 17:10 - What Is a Bond? Explained Simply 18:33 - How Much Can You Actually Earn From Bonds? 19:06 - Why Companies Don’t Just Borrow From Banks 20:08 - Collateral, Losses and the First-Generation Entrepreneur 22:48 - Why Equity Is More Expensive Than Debt 24:20 - The SGS Framework: Security, Growth and Stability 26:46 - How to Pick the Right Bonds 27:17 - Four Categories of Fixed Income Investments 29:13 - Underrated Bonds and Double-Digit Returns 30:25 - Why 94% of India’s Bond Market Is AA and Above 31:03 - India’s Own Sovereign Rating Is BBB Minus 32:42 - Only 2,000 Companies in India Are Rated AA or Above 34:06 - How a Bond Issue Actually Gets Done 36:15 - Skin in the Game: Co-Investing With Investors 38:41 - Why Fixed Deposits Quietly Lose You Money 39:27 - Government Bonds vs Bank FDs 42:24 - The Tortoise and the Hare: Bonds vs Equity 46:44 - What the Finance Minister Should Fix in Bond Taxation 48:18 - Final Advice for Investors #financewithsharan #bondmarket