New Delhi, Feb. 16 -- Fixed income rarely grabs headlines, though it anchors most Indian portfolios. Fixed deposits (FDs), corporate bonds and certificates of deposit (CDs) may seem dull compared to equities, but they play a critical role in stability, cash flow and capital protection.

At the Mint Money Festival in Mumbai on 14 February, Vineet Agrawal, co-founder of Jiraaf, an online platform that allows retail investors to access high-yield fixed-income opportunities, explained how these instruments fit into modern portfolios.

FDs remain India's largest financial asset class, larger even than equities. That dominance, according to Agrawal, has everything to do with legacy. "For our parents' generation, FD was the default," he said. It...