India's stock market has seen an explosion in retail participation, skyrocketing to more than 125 million registered investors from 20 million pre-pandemic. While 70% of these new investors are under 30, the boom is broad based: female participation has surged to nearly a quarter of the market, and half of all accounts now hail from rural areas. However, this new cohort's desire for "instant gratification" has fueled a speculative frenzy in derivatives, prompting regulator SEBI to step in with new rules to cool the market.

Jayprakash Gupta, founder of online trading platform Dhan, joins John Lee to explain how wide-ranging digitization efforts – from banking access to mobile penetration – laid the foundation for this growth. He discusses the impact of SEBI's recent crackdown on trading volumes and explains why he remains bullish on India's financial markets, pointing to low penetration rates, strong mutual fund inflows and a robust pipeline of IPOs.

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Launching a multi-strategy hedge fund has never been tougher. Giants such as Millennium, Point72 and Citadel dominate the space, while spiraling pay and a fierce "war for talent" have pushed entry barriers higher than ever. So why leave a top role at one of the world’s biggest funds to start a rival?

Jonathan Xiong, CEO & CIO of Arrowpoint Investment Partners and former co-CEO of Millennium in Asia, joins John Lee on the Asia Centric podcast to answer that question. With more than $1.5 billion in assets and growing, Arrowpoint is one of the most significant launches out of the region in recent years. Xiong discusses the difficulties of starting a multi-strategy fund, the hidden dangers of the "cost pass-through" model, and how he stood out from the crowd by identifying a unique gap in the Asian market.

This episode was recorded in December 2025.

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Geopolitical risk is often seen as a market threat, yet the rivalry between Washington and Beijing is driving a wave of investment opportunities. The US push for re-industrialization is boosting demand for Asian exports in sectors such as shipbuilding, power generation and semiconductors while China’s investment in "new productive forces" accelerates its high-end manufacturing upgrade.

Timothy Moe, chief Asia-Pacific equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, joins John Lee on the Asia Centric podcast. Moe explains why technology will remain a dominant theme in 2026 and why the firm is overweight Asia ex-Japan, forecasting the region will outperform the US and Europe. He also details why South Korea remains his top pick, citing 35% projected earnings growth and reasonable valuations, and outlines the rationale for his recent upgrade of India.

This will also be our last episode for 2025 and we will re-commence on January 8 with a new line up of exciting speakers.

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