Cracking Codes and Markets:  How Prof. Abhinava Tripathi Bridged Engineering and Finance

While schooling in Kanpur, Abhinava Tripathi was clear about one goal: cracking the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) to secure a berth at an IIT — a status symbol at the time. He achieved it on his first attempt.

A topper of the UP Board Exam in 2003, Abhinava faced a major hurdle: writing the IIT entrance exam in English.
"I had always studied in Hindi medium, and the shift to English was immensely challenging. I still feel I could have achieved a better rank had I been more proficient in English," he reflects.

A four-year B.Tech in Chemical Engineering at IIT Roorkee honed his academic rigor. Yet, despite immersing himself in chemical reactions and lab testing, he felt something was missing. This realization nudged him toward management studies and quantitative fields like Finance.

Alongside his academic pursuits, Abhinava worked diligently to strengthen his English communication skills, recognizing it as essential for personal growth. Over time, Finance emerged as his clear professional calling.

Pursuing an MBA at IIM Kozhikode allowed him to chase this dream. The management program sharpened his understanding of financial markets and refined his professional vocabulary. A six-year stint in the banking, investment banking, and credit rating firms followed, helping him deepen both his financial acumen and communication abilities. However, seeking a more profound engagement with the field, he decided to pursue a doctorate at IIM Lucknow.

His PhD research focused on how market efficiency and liquidity impact retail and institutional investors, fund managers, financial markets, and the broader economy. His thesis provided key insights, particularly through comparisons with quote-driven markets. During this time, he also polished his writing skills, learned programming, and delved into coding to analyze market volatility and financial trends.

In 2020, Prof. Abhinava returned to IIT Roorkee as an Assistant Professor in Management Studies, teaching courses like Security Analysis for Investments, Indian Financial Systems, Modern Financial Markets and Market Microstructure, Money and Central Banking, and Portfolio Building.

Market Mantras

After moving to IIT Kanpur in 2022, he expanded his teaching portfolio to include Applied Machine Learning, Capital Markets and Financial Products, and Financial Big Data Analytics.

Among his many publications, some have gained wide recognition. For instance, his paper Political Risk and Stock Markets: Evidence from the 2024 Indian National Elections explored the unique political risk in India’s coalition-driven democracy.
"This behavior of Indian stock markets can be traced back to the unique nature of coalition governments and the associated risk of a 'failure to form the government,'" the paper noted.
He and his co-authors showed that a simple sector-rotation-based strategy could yield cumulative returns of 6%–12% around a 20-day window near election results. Their findings also challenged the conventional belief that Indian stock markets favor one party or coalition over another.

Another notable paper, published in 2021, Information Dissemination Across Global Markets During the Spread of the Covid-19 Pandemic, studied information flow across 25 major global market indices. It found that non-systematic sources fueled price declines and increased volatility, whereas systematic information helped stabilize markets — offering valuable lessons for policymakers and regulators aiming to build more efficient markets.

Currently, Prof. Abhinava’s research spans a global landscape, focusing on how the 2024 U.S. elections and Trump’s tariff policies are impacting international markets.

Beyond financial markets and academia, Prof. Abhinava enjoys spending time with his four dogs. Interestingly, he was also the captain of the weightlifting team at IIT Roorkee.

Whether he's analyzing stock market behavior or playing with his dogs, Prof. Abhinava believes balance is the key. “The market will always have its noise. You have to align it with your financial objectives, and not let the short-term demons of volatility leave you with sleepless nights,” he says.

These days, however, he is closely tracking market mayhem. His mantra for fiscal prudence is simple yet powerful:
"Be patient. Don’t obsess over daily or hourly market movements. You went to buy apple, believe that markets are efficient and you got a good apple. Don’t expect gold to come out of a basket of apples. That is where the problem starts. Market fluctuations are natural. The trick is to understand their fleeting nature."

As global markets grapple with new challenges, Prof. Abhinava’s research continues to provide critical insights into market behavior, risk, and resilience — equipping the next generation to navigate an increasingly complex financial world.

Prof. Abhinava’s story stands as a reminder that career paths need not comprise of a few big jumps but small and steady steps in the right direction. From mastering chemical reactions to decoding financial markets, he shows that curiosity, persistence, and patience can redefine success.