Being financially happy is easy. Wanting to be financially happier is difficult
My recent announcement of early retirement at 55 caught some attention.
Aug 2025 - 5 mins read
https://www.pgimindia.com/api/v1/insights/download/image/CEOLetter-August20251140x350px.jpg
https://www.pgimindia.com/api/v1/insights/download/image/CEOLetter-August2025375x200px.jpg
My recent announcement of early retirement at 55 caught some attention. Here was a Mutual Fund CEO who had outsourced his portfolio management to a financial advisor and was sticking to a plan. Many saw it as validation of an advisor-led, plan-driven approach. Rightly so. Having a competent, trusted advisor build a financial plan allowed my family to work toward our goals, while I focused on building the PGIM India brand with my colleagues.
One aspect that is important and perhaps seldom mentioned or acknowledged when you read about financial success stories is the role of luck and timing. Not just the privilege of where one was born or having a roof over one’s head and a good education. In my case, starting my career post-1991 reforms created opportunities. Joining a private mutual fund early helped early progression. A dual-income household gave me flexibility in career as well as in increasing savings. Having a vantage point that exposed me to the benefits of a structured financial planning process early in my career.
Since joining in 2017-when it was DHFL Pramerica, largely a fixed income franchise-I began as Chief Business Officer. I became CEO during the 2018 debt market crisis, India’s own “mini Lehman” moment. We lost 80% of our AUM. Then came a brand reboot in 2019 as PGIM, only to face the Covid lockdowns soon after. Through those tough years, we made hard choices and followed a transparent, value-driven strategy. We rebuilt trust with partners and clients.
We transitioned from a fixed income firm to a broad-based equity and alternates platform. Over the last seven years, our equity AUM grew 46%* annually. From a modest base, we’ve grown to over Rs 30,000 crore in assets-mostly equity and largely through retail distribution. We also built meaningful content around holistic financial wellness expressed in our investor awareness website – Money&Me, and tools around retirement-'the only financial goal for which you do not get a conventional loan’. Our research report on Retirement Readiness in India is soon to release its third edition. The 50 Gigs Compendium Report was unique in highlighting the power of income from secondary skills. The unique positioning of many of our funds saw meaningful participation. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished.
So, what next? That’s the question I get asked-about my plans, the firm, or advisory opportunities. But each household or business has its unique challenges. There are no guarantees, only probabilities. The only thing we can do is control the controllables. That said, here are a few insights I’ve found valuable.
Every adult needs to maintain some control over health and wealth. Both are emotionally charged and risky to manage alone. The “do-it-yourself” or “ChatGPT mode” is fine to an extent-but not for the full journey. Advisors matter because they are in a different emotional state than you and that helps keep things objective rather than reacting emotionally. Just as surgeons don’t operate on loved ones, you shouldn’t manage your own critical financial decisions without guidance.
As Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman said, “We are not designed to know how little we know.” So how do we reduce errors or improve financial outcomes? My belief is that we must trust product design and default features. For example, the lock-in of provident funds helps protect long-term investments. Insurance annuities provide a guaranteed floor of income. SIP top-up features raise your savings rate gradually. A financial plan that adjusts asset allocation near goal maturity helps reduce market-timing risk.
Combining well-designed mutual funds with insurance, pensions, and structured loans is far more effective than chasing performance alone.
Most investor narratives focus on performance. This drives return-chasing behaviour, often at the cost of goal achievement. ‘Best performing’ shifts with every market cycle, leaving many investors disillusioned.
Data from AMFI shows that regular investments have a longer holding-period profile in comparison to direct investments. As of March 2024, the share of regular investments with more than 5 years of holding period stood at 21.2% as against 7.7% in case of direct investments. A similar trend is observed for holding periods of direct and regular SIP AUM, where 23.0% of investments through regular plans have a holding period of more than 5 years against 12.4% of direct plans.1 A long way to go, but I believe advisors/MFDs are doing a great job of inculcating long-term behaviour.
It would help more though if we had a shift in mindset of how we buy mutual funds. Think about how we buy gold-by grams; or real estate-by square feet. But mutual funds? We focus only on performance. I wish people would focus on acquiring units instead. We have a transparent, regulated industry offering access to capital markets. Fund managers with diverse styles offer products to suit varied risk profiles and time frames. Acquiring units of mutual funds-much like we accumulate gold or real estate-is a better long-term lens. And no, this is not an argument for buying NFOs just because they’re priced at 10/-. Units of established funds that align with your profile-active, passive, thematic, old or new-are what matter.
Having said all of this, numbers, plans, algorithms, asset allocation strategies are only half the story. Life happens. People separate, we lose loved ones, careers abruptly change or end, health disappoints. If not a monk, a child or dead, every living person on gods earth has financial anxiety. The difference is just in the degree of anxiety. So the best you should aim for is to reduce financial anxiety because you cannot eliminate it completely. Here is where having a personal money philosophy can help. Easy to say and difficult to do. Montesquieu, a French judge and philosopher, said that “If your goal is to be happy, that is easy to accomplish. But if you want to be happier, that’s very difficult because we believe others are happier than us.” Wanting to be happier is relative especially in today’s hyper connected world. Happier than whom? It keeps us comparing, chasing, and running endlessly. Often, only a health or time-related life event forces us to pause and rethink.
As Justin Welsh said, “Modern luxury is the ability to think clearly, sleep deeply, move slowly and live quietly in a world that is designed to prevent that.” These perfectly capture today’s challenges—where expectations are difficult to manage, and our goalposts constantly shift. In a world driven by envy more than greed, social media driven markers of success and ambition, feeling like a winner at the finish line is possible - only if you can stop your financial goal post from moving.
Having said all of this, numbers, plans, algorithms, asset allocation strategies are only half the story. Life happens. People separate, we lose loved ones, careers abruptly change or end, health disappoints. If not a monk, a child or dead, every living person on gods earth has financial anxiety. The difference is just in the degree of anxiety. So the best you should aim for is to reduce financial anxiety because you cannot eliminate it completely. Here is where having a personal money philosophy can help. Easy to say and difficult to do. Montesquieu, a French judge and philosopher, said that “If your goal is to be happy, that is easy to accomplish. But if you want to be happier, that’s very difficult because we believe others are happier than us.” Wanting to be happier is relative especially in today’s hyper connected world. Happier than whom? It keeps us comparing, chasing, and running endlessly. Often, only a health or time-related life event forces us to pause and rethink.
As Justin Welsh said, “Modern luxury is the ability to think clearly, sleep deeply, move slowly and live quietly in a world that is designed to prevent that.” These perfectly capture today’s challenges—where expectations are difficult to manage, and our goalposts constantly shift. In a world driven by envy more than greed, social media driven markers of success and ambition, feeling like a winner at the finish line is possible - only if you can stop your financial goal post from moving.
As I step away from my CEO role and transition to Senior Advisor with team PGIM India, I continue to have the opportunity to stay connected with my team, the industry and contribute wherever I can add value. The incredible colleagues who built PGIM India’s culture made a real difference. Whatever the future holds, these shared values and experiences will remain deeply meaningful and I hope that I was able to add value and make some difference to people I have engaged with in my journey.
Thank you-to our investors, our partners, and my colleagues. My best wishes to all.
1: AMFI - Crisil Factbook 2024
* Internal data as of August 2025
* Internal data as of August 2025
Back 
© PGIM India Asset Management Private Limited
Connect with us :
