India's new Specialised Investment Fund (SIF) category is beginning to gather scale. Data from the industry shows that the net assets under management (AUM) of SIFs have jumped more than threefold from about Rs 2,000 crore in October 2025 to Rs 6,501 crore by January 2026.
Specialised Investment funds SIF, a bridge introduced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India in April last year, allows mutual funds to run more flexible and specialised strategies targeted at affluent investors with a minimum investment of Rs 10 lakh.
So far, six fund houses including SBI Mutual Fund, Quant Mutual Fund, Edelweiss Mutual Fund, Tata Mutual Fund, ITI Mutual Fund and Bandhan Mutual Fund have launched SIF offerings, while several others have applied for licences.
Among the early entrants, SBI Mutual Fund has emerged as the clear leader both in investor participation and assets.
SBI MF's Magnum SIF has the highest folio count of 10,152 and an AUM of Rs 2,854.8 crore, the largest in the segment.
It is followed by Quant MF, which manages about Rs 861.6 crore through its SIF strategies with 6,866 folios.
Edelweiss MF ranks third with Rs 2,093 crore in AUM and 3,552 folios through its Altiva SIF.
Across the industry, SIFs together have 23,345 folios and Rs 6,501 crore in AUM, according to AMFI data for January 2026.
Average ticket sizes vary significantly across fund houses. Bandhan MF has the highest average investment size at Rs 78.4 lakh per folio, while Quant MF has the lowest at Rs 12.5 lakh, reflecting broader investor participation.
Flexible strategies driving interest
The category has been designed to offer strategies that sit between traditional mutual funds and portfolio management services.
Unlike regular mutual funds, SIFs allow greater portfolio flexibility, including:
- Long-short strategies
- Sector rotation strategies
- Higher derivatives usage
- Concentrated thematic exposure
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The relatively high minimum investment of Rs 10 lakh also makes the product attractive to affluent investors looking for sophisticated strategies within a regulated mutual fund structure.
While the category is still nascent to be substantial, early performance across strategies has been mixed. Among hybrid long short strategies, Edelweiss MF's Altiva Hybrid Long-Short Fund has been one of the better performers, delivering 3.29% since inception, including 2.1% returns over the last three months. SBI MF's Magnum Hybrid Long-Short Fund has generated 1.6% since inception, while Bandhan MF, Hybrid Long-Short Fund has posted negative returns of about 0.79% since launch.
Performance has been weaker in equity long-short strategies. 360 ONE MF's DynaSIF Equity Long-Short Fund delivered 0.08% since inception, though the scheme is relatively new. ITI MF's Diviniti Equity Long-Short Fund is down 3.35% since inception. Quant MF's QSIF Equity Long-Short Fund has declined 3.29%, while its QSIF Equity Ex Top 100 Long-Short Fund has fallen 8.58% since launch.
The weak performance in several equity strategies reflects broader market volatility. Over the past three months, benchmark indices such as the Nifty 50, Nifty 500, Nifty Midcap 150, and Nifty Smallcap 250 have delivered negative returns, falling between roughly 3-7% during the period.
Against this backdrop, the ability of long short strategies to manage downside risk will be closely watched as the category matures.
Industry participants expect more fund houses to enter the segment as regulatory approvals come through.
With a growing affluent investor base, rising demand for alternative strategies, and the credibility of the mutual fund framework, SIFs could emerge as an important bridge between traditional mutual funds and high-end investment products like portfolio management services and alternative investment funds.
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