If your investable surplus has crossed ₹10 lakh, you may have come across Specialised Investment Funds (SIFs). This is a newer SEBI-regulated category that sits between regular mutual funds and the more exclusive world of PMS and hedge funds. Early coverage of this category often said there was no real performance history to judge yet. That’s no longer true. SIFs now have real, and genuinely mixed, results. Here’s what they actually returned, the full current fund landscape, and how to think about whether one fits your portfolio.
What Is a SIF (Specialised Investment Fund)?
A SIF is a SEBI-regulated investment category, launched on April 1, 2025, designed to offer strategies more advanced than a typical mutual fund. Unlike regular mutual funds, which mostly just buy and hold, SIFs can use long positions, short positions, and hedging together, aiming to generate returns whether markets are rising, falling, or moving sideways.
Because these strategies are more complex and carry more risk, SEBI restricts SIFs to investors who can commit at least ₹10 lakh, treating this as a category built for experienced investors rather than a beginner-friendly product.
What Have SIFs Actually Returned So Far?
This is the most important update to make here: real performance data now exists, and it’s a genuinely mixed picture, not the uniformly promising story the category’s marketing sometimes implies.
As of early 2026, since-inception returns for some of the earliest funds looked like this:
- Edelweiss Altiva Hybrid Long-Short Fund: up approximately 3.29% since launch
- Quant Equity Long-Short Fund: down approximately 3.29% since inception
- Quant Equity Ex-Top 100 Long-Short Fund: down approximately 8.58% since inception
This decline coincided with a broader market pullback, the Nifty Midcap 150 fell roughly 5-8% and the Nifty Smallcap 250 dropped 7-10% in the months leading into January 2026. A sharper correction followed in March 2026, when the Nifty fell about 11.3%.
An important caveat when comparing these numbers: funds launched at different times lived through different market conditions. A fund that launched just before a correction has a very different since-inception number than one that launched right after it, even if the underlying strategy and manager skill are identical. Don’t compare two SIFs’ headline returns without checking when each one actually started.
How Big Has the SIF Category Grown?
Genuinely fast. Total SIF assets under management grew from roughly ₹6,501 crore in January 2026 to about ₹13,182 crore by May 2026, doubling in just a few months. This reflects real investor appetite for the category, even with the mixed early performance covered above.
Which Fund Houses Currently Offer SIFs?
The list has expanded well beyond the first two launches. Major fund houses now offering or preparing to offer SIFs include:
- Quant Mutual Fund: Multiple SIF strategies across categories, among the earliest and most active issuers.
- Edelweiss Mutual Fund (Altiva platform): Currently home to the largest single SIF by assets, the Altiva Hybrid Long-Short Fund, with around ₹1,185 crore.
- SBI Mutual Fund (Magnum SIF): A hybrid long-short offering investing across equity, fixed income, derivatives, and REITs/InvITs.
- Mirae Asset, ITI, Tata (Titanium SIF), HDFC, DSP, and Bandhan: All have secured SIF licences, with products launched or in the pipeline.
There’s also growing interest from firms outside the traditional mutual fund space, including PMS and AIF managers like ASK Investment Managers, Marcellus, Nuvama, and Wealth First, applying for mutual fund licences specifically to enter the SIF category. This suggests the industry sees this as a durable, growing segment rather than a short-lived product launch.
What Are the Main SIF Categories?
| Category | Typical Allocation | Best Suited For |
|---|---|---|
| Equity-Oriented | At least 80% equity, using long-short strategies | Investors wanting equity exposure with some downside protection |
| Hybrid | Mix of equity, debt, derivatives, and sometimes REITs/InvITs | Investors wanting a more balanced, moderate-volatility option |
| Debt-Oriented | Primarily fixed-income, with interest rate and credit risk management | Investors prioritising capital preservation over growth |
How Do the Major SIF Products Actually Compare?
There are now over 30 live SIF schemes across 17 AMCs and the list keeps growing. Below is a snapshot of some of the more established or widely tracked products, purely to show how different they are from each other in strategy, size, and results so far.
This is a factual comparison, not a recommendation, the right fund for you depends on your own risk appetite and goals, not on which one has the highest number in this table today.
| Fund | AMC | Category | AUM (approx.) | Since-Inception Return (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altiva Hybrid Long-Short | Edelweiss | Hybrid | ₹1,185 crore | +3.29% |
| Magnum Hybrid Long-Short | SBI | Hybrid | Among the largest in the segment | Not consistently reported |
| qSIF Equity Long-Short | Quant | Equity | Smaller | -3.29% |
| qSIF Equity Ex-Top 100 Long-Short | Quant | Equity | Smaller | -8.58% |
| qSIF Active Asset Allocator | Quant | Hybrid | ₹167 crore | +14.8% |
| Diviniti Equity Long-Short | ITI | Equity | ₹334 crore | -6.51% |
| Titanium Equity Long-Short | Tata | Equity | ₹208 crore | +6.18% |
| Apex Equity Long-Short | Bandhan | Equity | ₹91 crore | +5.12% |
| iSIF Equity Long-Short | ICICI Prudential | Equity | Among the largest in its category | Not consistently reported |
| Platinum Hybrid Long-Short | Mirae Asset | Hybrid | Newer, smaller | Limited history |
| Sapphire Equity Long-Short | Aditya Birla Sun Life | Equity | Newer, smaller | Limited history |
| Arthaya Equity Long-Short | Union | Equity | Newer, smaller | Limited history |
Figures are approximate, sourced from recent 2026 fund trackers, and can shift meaningfully month to month given how young this category still is. Always check the fund’s current factsheet or a live SIF tracker (such as AMFI’s own published data) before relying on any number here.
What stands out from this table is just how differently these funds have performed, even within the same broad “Equity Long-Short” category. Quant’s Active Asset Allocator is up double digits while its own Equity Ex-Top 100 fund is down over 8%, a reminder that “SIF” isn’t one strategy, it’s a regulatory category containing genuinely different approaches with genuinely different outcomes.
How Do You Actually Evaluate a SIF, Given Limited History?
Even with real returns now available, most SIFs still only have a few months to just over a year of data, not enough to draw firm long-term conclusions. A few things are worth checking beyond the headline return:
- The strategy’s net exposure. A fund with near-zero net long/short exposure is focused purely on stock-picking skill. A fund with a larger net long exposure (say, 30-50%) is still taking a meaningful directional bet on the market, just a smaller one than a regular equity fund.
- Liquidity terms. Most SIFs aren’t daily-liquidity products. Many operate as interval funds, allowing redemptions only on specific days, often just twice a week, and typically charge an exit load if you redeem early (commonly 0.5-1% within the first few weeks or months).
- The minimum investment and SIP structure. SEBI’s ₹10 lakh minimum applies at the PAN level. Some funds allow a smaller SIP on top of this (often ₹1,000 to ₹10,000), but your aggregate investment still needs to stay at or above ₹10 lakh.
- How the fund performed relative to its own stated goal, not just an absolute number. A fund built to protect capital during a downturn should be judged on how well it did that during the actual downturns it’s lived through, like the early 2026 correction, not just its raw return figure.
Where Should a SIF Fit in Your Portfolio?
Most financial advisors treat SIFs as a smaller, tactical “satellite” allocation, not a core holding. A common structure is keeping 80-90% of your portfolio in reliable long-term compounders (index funds, diversified equity mutual funds) and allocating 10-20% to more tactical positions like a SIF, specifically because a well-designed long-short strategy can behave differently from your core holdings during a downturn.
How Is SIF Income Taxed?
For hybrid SIF schemes, gains are taxed at a flat 12.5% if held for more than 24 months. If sold within 24 months, gains are taxed as short-term, at your regular income slab rate. Tax treatment can vary slightly depending on the specific fund’s underlying asset mix, so check the scheme’s own documentation for your specific fund.
Frequently Asked Questions
What have SIF funds actually returned in India so far?
Results have been genuinely mixed. As of early 2026, Edelweiss’s Altiva Hybrid Long-Short Fund was up about 3.29% since launch, while Quant’s Equity Long-Short Fund was down about 3.29%, and its Equity Ex-Top 100 fund was down about 8.58%. Since these funds launched at different times and lived through different market conditions, direct comparisons between them need care.
Is it too early to judge SIF performance?
Not entirely anymore, though most funds still only have a matter of months to just over a year of history. There’s enough real data now to see meaningful differences between strategies and fund houses, but not enough to draw firm long-term conclusions the way you could with a fund that’s been running for 5-10 years.
When were SIFs launched in India?
SEBI formally introduced the SIF category on April 1, 2025. The first funds, from Quant and Edelweiss’s Altiva platform, launched in September 2025.
What is the minimum investment for a SIF?
₹10 lakh at the PAN level, as mandated by SEBI. Some funds allow a smaller ongoing SIP (often ₹1,000 to ₹10,000) on top of this, but your total investment needs to stay at or above the ₹10 lakh threshold.
Which fund houses currently offer SIFs in India?
As of mid-2026, over 30 live SIF schemes exist across 17 AMCs, including Quant, Edelweiss (Altiva), SBI (Magnum), ITI (Diviniti), Tata (Titanium), Bandhan (Apex), ICICI Prudential (iSIF), Mirae Asset (Platinum), Aditya Birla Sun Life (Sapphire), and Union (Arthaya), among others. See the comparison table above for how a selection of these currently differ in category, size, and performance.
How liquid are SIF investments?
Less liquid than a typical mutual fund. Many SIFs operate as interval funds, allowing redemptions only on specific days (often twice a week), and usually charge an exit load if redeemed within the first few weeks or months.
How is SIF income taxed?
For hybrid SIF schemes, gains held over 24 months are taxed at a flat 12.5%. Gains within 24 months are taxed at your regular income slab rate as short-term gains. Confirm the specific treatment for your fund, since it can vary by underlying asset mix.
Disclaimer
This article is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. SIFs are complex products carrying higher risk, including potential loss of capital, and are restricted to investors meeting the ₹10 lakh minimum investment threshold. Performance figures change regularly, always check the current factsheet before investing, and consult a qualified, SEBI-registered financial advisor.
Last Updated on 2 weeks ago by Team Paisaseekho
