Kanishk Singh Shares 60-25-15 Investment Split, Targeting 12% Annual Returns

Q: His plan targets 12% growth, but do his medium-term investment choices actually support this ambitious goal?

No. Singh’s medium-term bucket is designed for stability and liquidity, not for delivering 12% annual growth. His own target for that bucket is only 7% to 8% a year, and that matches the products he chose: fixed deposits and arbitrage or liquid-type funds. Recent historical returns for arbitrage and liquid funds have generally been in the 5% to 7% range, while fixed deposits have also typically stayed well below 12%. Those instruments are widely used for short- to medium-term goals because they reduce volatility and preserve capital, especially when money may be needed within one to two years. That makes the plan internally consistent, but only if the 12% goal is understood as a portfolio-level aspiration driven mainly by the long-term bucket, not by every part of the portfolio. Since 25% of his savings goes into medium-term assets and another 15% into emergency reserves that also earn modest returns, a large share of the overall return burden falls on the 60% long-term allocation to Indian equities, US stocks and gold. In practice, the medium-term choices support a different objective: protecting near-term goals from market swings. They are sensible for a car purchase or house down payment, but they are unlikely to materially help achieve 12% growth. If an investor truly wanted a 12% return from medium-term money, they would usually need more equity exposure and a longer time horizon, which would also mean taking significantly more risk.

1 articles · Updated · Mint · Jul 6

Kanishk Singh, a Bain senior manager in his 30s, said he structures his savings into three buckets and aims to grow them at least 12% a year.
60% of savings goes to long-term investments he does not plan to touch for years, with that pool split into 50% Indian stocks and mutual funds, 20% gold ETFs and 30% US stocks.
25% is set aside for one- to two-year goals such as a car or house down payment, divided equally between fixed deposits and arbitrage liquid funds returning about 7% to 8% annually.
15% goes into an emergency fund, with 60% in a high-interest savings fund and 40% in debt funds; Singh said he saves about 50% of his salary overall.
On Instagram, Singh framed the strategy as a guide for young investors who often lack early investing advice, adding that restrictions on direct stock investing can be worked around through ETFs or index funds.