Specialized Investment Funds

A SIF is a SEBI-regulated product, run by a mutual fund house under a separate brand, that can take unhedged short positions through derivatives of up to 25% of its net assets. It sits between a mutual fund and a portfolio management service. 18 SIF brands run 36 strategies today.

₹10 lakh, counted across all the strategies of one SIF at the PAN level. Accredited investors are exempt. If your holding falls below ₹10 lakh only because the NAV fell, that is not a breach; a redemption that takes you below it is not allowed.

SEBI allows seven, and one of each per SIF: Equity Long-Short (at least 80% in equity), Equity Ex-Top 100 Long-Short (at least 65% outside the 100 largest stocks), Sector Rotation Long-Short (at least 80% in up to four sectors), Debt Long-Short, Sectoral Debt Long-Short, Active Asset Allocator Long-Short and Hybrid Long-Short (at least 25% each in equity and debt).

Not always. Equity strategies may offer daily redemption, debt strategies must allow at least weekly redemption, and hybrid strategies at least twice a week. The fund house can also set a notice period of up to 15 working days, and you get the NAV at the end of it.

A SIF is a mutual fund in law, so its units are taxed like mutual fund units of the same kind. A strategy that keeps at least 65% in Indian listed equity is taxed as an equity fund: 20% on gains within a year and 12.5% above ₹1.25 lakh after a year. Strategies with less equity are taxed like debt or hybrid funds. Check each strategy's offer document for how it expects to be classified.

The SEBI framework came into force on 1 April 2025 and the first SIF reported its first NAV on 8 October 2025. So every figure here is since launch: an absolute return while a strategy is under a year old, and an annualised one (CAGR) once it has a full year of NAVs. The oldest strategies crossed one year in October 2026; most are still younger than that.