Market Crash? Your Asset Mix Can Save ₹6L
History shows that spreading your money across equity and debt — not putting everything in stocks — can protect your savings when markets fall badly. Here's what 25 years of Indian market crashes teach us about smarter investing.
Mixing just 20% debt in your portfolio is like having an airbag — you still crash, but you survive.
Pure equity portfolios lost this much in India's worst market crashes
Key Takeaways
Check your current portfolio split — if equity is above 80%, rebalance by moving some funds into debt mutual funds or PPF.
Add a 'debt cushion' of at least 20-30% using short-duration funds or FDs so crashes don't wipe out years of SIP gains.
Review and rebalance your asset allocation once a year — set a calendar reminder for your financial year-end in March.
History shows that spreading your money across equity and debt — not putting everything in stocks — can protect your savings when markets fall badly. Here's what 25 years of Indian market crashes teach us about smarter investing.
Here's what happened: Indian equity markets have seen at least 5 major crashes since 2000, including the Ketan Parekh scam, 2008 global crisis, and Covid-19 selloff.. Pure equity portfolios lost 50-60% of value in the worst downturns, while blended equity-debt portfolios fell far less sharply.. Debt instruments like government bonds, FDs, and gilt funds held their value or even gained during equity market crashes..
What you should do: Check your current portfolio split — if equity is above 80%, rebalance by moving some funds into debt mutual funds or PPF.. Add a 'debt cushion' of at least 20-30% using short-duration funds or FDs so crashes don't wipe out years of SIP gains.. Review and rebalance your asset allocation once a year — set a calendar reminder for your financial year-end in March..
A simple 70:30 equity-to-debt split historically recovers 12-18 months faster after a crash than a 100% equity portfolio — compounding works better when you lose less.
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- [1]“From Ketan Parekh scam to Covid: What 25 years of history reveals about ideal asset allocation during market downturns” mint - money · 18 Jul 2026
This article is reported by GoCredit's Editorial Team based on the source above. GoCredit synthesises, contextualises, and adds India-borrower-relevant analysis. We are not the original publisher.