Equity and debt are the two pillars. Three other things are genuinely worth understanding — not because everyone needs them, but because each behaves differently from stocks, which is the entire point of owning something else.
Gold
Gold produces nothing. It pays no dividend, generates no earnings and does not compound. Its case rests entirely on behaviour: it has historically held value when currencies weaken and risen when investors are frightened — precisely when equity is falling.
| How to own it | What it is | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Physical | Jewellery, coins, bars | Making charges, purity risk, storage and insurance. The worst investment form and the most popular. |
| Gold ETF | An exchange-traded fund backed by physical gold | Liquid, small expense ratio, needs a demat account. The practical default. |
| Sovereign Gold Bond | A government bond denominated in grams of gold | Tracks the gold price and pays interest on top. Long lock-in with an exit window. |
| Gold mutual funds | A fund that holds a gold ETF | No demat needed, marginally higher cost. |
REITs — real estate, in slices
A Real Estate Investment Trust owns income-producing commercial property — office parks, malls — and is legally required to distribute the large majority of its rental income to unit-holders. It trades on the exchange like a share.
- Commercial property exposure for a few thousand rupees rather than a few crore.
- Genuine liquidity — sellable in seconds, unlike an actual building.
- Regular distributions from contracted rent.
- Professional management and full disclosure.
- It is not "safe like property" — the unit price is volatile and market-driven.
- Rising interest rates hurt REITs twice: borrowing costs rise and the yield looks less attractive.
- Occupancy risk is real. Empty offices pay no rent.
- Distributions have a slightly complicated tax treatment worth checking.
InvITs — infrastructure, in slices
An Infrastructure Investment Trust does the same thing for roads, transmission lines and pipelines. The distributions come from tolls or regulated tariffs, which makes them steadier than rent but often finite — a road concession expires, after which the asset returns to the government.
Why any of this — correlation
The reason to own a second asset is not that it returns more. It is that it does not move with the first one. A portfolio of things that all fall together is one bet, however many holdings it contains — which is the same lesson as owning five banks, applied across asset classes.
Maa ke gehne tijori mein pade hain — safe hain, par kuch kamaa ke nahi de rahe. Gold ETF wahi sona hai bina making charge aur bina chori ke dar ke. Aur REIT matlab Mumbai ke office building ka chhota hissa — aap ₹500 mein malik ban-te ho aur kiraya bhi milta hai.
- Gold produces nothing; its case is behavioural, not economic.
- Sovereign Gold Bonds pay interest on top of the gold price — physical jewellery is the worst form.
- REITs give liquid commercial property exposure, and are hurt by rising rates.
- InvIT distributions may partly be return of capital, so the headline yield is not comparable to an FD.
- You own a second asset for its low correlation, not for its return.
Mark it done to track your progress through the curriculum.
Common questions
Short, direct answers to what people ask about this topic.
- reit meaning in indian stock market
- A Real Estate Investment Trust is a listed vehicle that owns income-producing commercial property — office parks, malls, warehouses — and is required by SEBI to distribute at least 90% of its net distributable cash flows to unit-holders. Its units trade on NSE and BSE like a share, so the exposure costs a few thousand rupees rather than a few crore and can be sold in seconds rather than months. The unit price is market-driven and volatile, which is the part people who file it mentally under “property” tend to miss.
- is sovereign gold bond interest paid on the original investment or current value
- 2.5% a year, paid half-yearly, calculated on the amount you originally invested rather than on the current gold value — and this sits on top of the movement in the gold price itself. The bonds run for eight years with an early redemption option from the fifth year on coupon dates, and issued series also trade on the exchanges. Fresh tranches exist only when the government announces one, so availability has never been continuous.
- a trust that owns rent-yielding commercial property and trades on an exchange is known as
- A REIT — a Real Estate Investment Trust. Its infrastructure counterpart is an InvIT, an Infrastructure Investment Trust, which holds roads, transmission lines or pipelines and pays out from tolls and regulated tariffs instead of rent. Both are SEBI-regulated, both list on the exchanges, and both are obliged to pass the large majority of their cash flows through to unit-holders.
- difference between reit and invit
- A REIT owns commercial real estate and distributes rental income; an InvIT owns infrastructure assets such as highways, power transmission lines and pipelines, and distributes toll or tariff income. The difference that matters most in practice is asset life — many InvIT assets sit on a concession that eventually expires and hands the asset back to the government, so part of a high headline distribution can be return of your own capital rather than income earned on it. A REIT’s buildings carry no such expiry date.
- is a gold etf cheaper to own than gold jewellery
- Yes, on cost. Jewellery carries making charges commonly in the 8–25% range, and those charges plus any purity deduction are largely lost the moment you sell it back. A gold ETF is backed by physical gold, charges only a small annual expense ratio plus brokerage on the trade, and tracks the metal price directly — though it needs a demat account, which a gold mutual fund holding the same ETF does not. Jewellery is a purchase you enjoy; that is a separate and perfectly good reason to buy it.