Rethinking Risk, Speed, and Fairness in Derivatives at Moneycontrol Global Wealth Summit 2026

India's Derivatives Market: Navigating Speed, Fairness, and Innovation

Key Statistics:

• Over 1 crore investors traded derivatives in FY25, with 91% incurring losses.
• Losses exceeded ₹1.06 lakh crore.

Market Leaders Discuss Structural Fault Lines:

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• Ananth Narayan, Former Wholetime Member at SEBI, identified three key issues:
  • Large-scale retail losses
  • Distorted expiry-day market
  • Strong short-tenor bias
• Sundararaman Ramamurthy, MD & CEO of BSE, emphasized the need for longer-tenor participation in derivative markets to promote healthy market growth.

Evolutionary Perspective:

• Dinesh Thakkar, Chairman & MD of Angel One, highlighted the growth of SIP investors from 72 lakh in 2015 to 11 crore today, demonstrating a broader wealth-building journey.
• He acknowledged that derivatives can be a valuable product, but retail investors must understand the zero-sum game.

Structural View:

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• Anirudh Chaudhary, Founder of Lama Capital, emphasized the importance of creating friction in derivative markets to prevent exploitation of retail investors.
• Nitesh Khandelwal, Co-founder of iRage and CEO of QuantInsti, identified access as the core problem, highlighting the need for reasonable access to derivative markets for retail investors.

Priorities for Future Growth:

• Develop cash markets as a healthier entry point for retail investors
• Introduce suitability frameworks co-created by the industry
• Extend the tenure of derivative products to attract institutional participants

The Way Forward:

• Ananth Narayan emphasized the need to keep the derivative market "healthy" while acknowledging the importance of innovation and growth.