Best SIF Funds in India: Key Strategies, Features And How To Evaluate Them
Specialized Investment Funds (SIFs) are a distinct category of mutual fund schemes regulated by SEBI. They are designed to offer more flexible, strategy-driven portfolios than traditional mutual funds, including approaches such as long-short equity, sector- or theme-focused investing, and tactical asset allocation.
SEBI introduced SIFs through the SEBI (Mutual Funds) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2024, notified on 16 December 2024. The detailed regulatory framework was issued through SEBI’s circular dated 27 February 2025 and came into effect on 1 April 2025.
What Are Specialized Investment Funds?
SIFs are not Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). They are a distinct category of mutual fund schemes under the SEBI mutual fund framework, but they may use more advanced strategies than conventional mutual funds, including long-short approaches and permitted derivative-based strategies.
SIFs pool investor money into professionally managed strategies. They are designed to offer greater strategy flexibility than traditional mutual funds while requiring a lower minimum investment than PMS. For non-accredited investors, the minimum aggregate investment across a SIF’s strategies is INR 10 lakh; for PMS, the minimum investment is INR 50 lakh3.
| Parameter | Details |
| Regulated by | SEBI |
| Regulatory framework | SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations; SIF is a distinct category introduced through the 2024 amendment |
| Minimum investment | INR 10 lakh aggregate across all investment strategies offered by a particular SIF, at PAN level; exempt for accredited investors |
| Investment strategies | Equity-oriented, debt-oriented and hybrid strategies, subject to SEBI-prescribed conditions |
| Key features | May use specialised strategies such as long-short equity, tactical allocation and permitted derivative strategies |
Source: SEBI4
Therefore, sophisticated investors are attracted to SIFs, owing to their advanced investment techniques (like tactical asset allocation, sector rotation), greater portfolio control, niche investing, etc.
Now, let us understand the Top SIF Funds India.
Early SIFs In India: What Investors Can Evaluate Today
SEBI introduced SIF in December 2024. Subsequently, the first SIF to be launched was as recently as September 2025 by Quant5. Therefore, while several mutual fund houses are gearing up to make space in this new space of SIFs, the market in itself is fairly new. This results in a lack of the most common fund comparison metrics, like one-year or three-year returns, risk-adjusted metrics and so on.
Such a scenario calls for the utilisation of other metrics that aid in gauging potential SIF performance comparison, like portfolio structure, return anticipation, ratings, minimum investment, etc.
Discussed below is an analysis of SIFs active recently. This will aid in gauging the pattern of SIF performance comparison.
1. Quant Equity Long Short Fund
Launched on 17 September 2025, the new fund offer period of the Quant Equity Long Short Fund closed on 1 October 2025. The top three components of its portfolio are discussed below6.
| Asset | Range (%) | Risk |
| All cash cap equity or equity arbitrage | 65 to 100 | High or Low |
| All cap unhedged derivative strategies (Long) | 0 to 35 | High |
| All cap unhedged derivative strategies (Short) | 0 to 25 | High |
Now, let us look at some other metrics.
| Minimum Investment | INR 10 Lakhs |
| SIP | INR 10,000 |
| Entry Load | Nil |
| Exit Load | 1% if units redeemed or switched before 15 days from unit allotment |
| Risk Band Level | 5 |
| Fund Managers | Sandeep Tandon, Sameer Kate, etc. |
Return Anticipation (QSIF Equity Centric) | Underperformance in a raging bull market, Moderate performance in a bull market and outperformance in a bear market, volatile market, rage-bound market, etc. |
The fund has declared the NIFTY 500 Total Return Index (TRI) as its benchmark. The benchmark has delivered 149.62% growth in the past 5 years.
2. Quant Hybrid Long-Short Fund
The NFO period is between 25 September 2025 and 9 October 2025. The top three components of its portfolio are discussed below.
| Asset | Range (%) | Risk |
| Equity arbitrage or unhedged equity spot (Long) | 35 to 65 | Low or High |
| Debt | 25 to 65 | Moderate |
| Unhedged equity derivative strategies (Long) | 0 to 40 | High |
Now, let us look at some other metrics.
| Minimum Investment | INR 10 Lakhs |
| SIP | INR 10,000 |
| Entry Load | Nil |
| Exit Load | 1% if units redeemed or switched before 15 days from unit allotment |
| Risk Band Level | 5 |
| Fund Managers | Sandeep Tandon, Sameer Kate, etc. |
Return Anticipation (QSIF Equity Centric) | Underperformance in a raging bull market, Moderate performance in a bull market and outperformance in a bear market, volatile market, rage-bound market, etc. |
The fund has declared Nifty 50 Hybrid Composite Debt 50:50 Index as its benchmark. The 3 year return of the benchmark was at 12.37 as of 30 September 20257.
Source: Nifty Indices8
3. Altiva Hybrid Long Short Fund
The NFO period of the Altiva fund is between 1 October 2025 and 15 October 2025. The portfolio allocation of the fund is unique and detailed.
| Core Strategy | Allocation Range |
| Cash-Future Arbitrage and Covered Call | 20% to 40% |
| Fixed Income | 40% to 60% |
| Enhanced Drivers | |
| Special Situations like IPO, Buybacks, Mergers, etc. | 0 to 10% |
| Derivative Strategies | 10% to 20% |
Some other fund features are discussed below.
| Minimum Investment | INR 10 Lakhs |
| Minimum SIP, SWP, STP | INR 1000 |
| Exit Load | 0.5% of NAV if units are redeemed or switched before 90 days from allotment |
| Risk Band Level | 5 |
| Fund Managers | Bhavesh Jain, Bharat Lahoti, etc. |
| Return Anticipation | Arbitrage Plus and the back-tested strategy have shown a two-year return of 11.53% and an average back-tested two-year rolling return of 10.10% |
Similar to the Fund before, Altiva’s benchmark is NIFTY 50 Hybrid Composite Debt 50:50 Index. Understanding these benchmark performance aids in understanding prospective fund returns.
Similar to these funds, there are some more active SIFs, currently. The table below shows the NFO dates of the funds that can become the Best SIF Funds India in the future.
| SIF | NFO Period | Minimum Investment |
| Magnum Hybrid Long Short Fund (G) | 1 October 2025 to 15 October 2025 | INR 10 Lakhs |
| Magnum Hybrid Long Short Fund (I) | 1 October 2025 to 15 October 2025 | INR 10 Lakhs |
Source: Sharekhan9
Now, for optimal future evaluation of SIFs, let us explore some parameters that must be analysed before SIF investment.
Investing in SIFs Through Grip Invest
Investors can explore Specialised Investment Funds through Grip Invest. Grip provides an investment journey that includes reviewing available strategies, completing the required KYC and onboarding, and placing an investment.
Before choosing a strategy, review its investment mandate, fund-manager experience, risk band, expense ratio, exit load and redemption terms. SIFs available through the platform are market-linked investments and do not offer fixed or guaranteed returns.
For non-accredited investors, the minimum investment threshold is INR 10 lakh at the PAN level across the strategies of a particular SIF. Accredited investors are exempt from this threshold. Smaller subsequent investments or SIPs may be available, subject to the strategy’s terms and minimum-threshold requirements.
SIF Market Growth In India
Specialised Investment Funds are witnessing rapid early adoption in India. The category’s assets under management have grown sharply, rising from around INR 2,010 crore in October 2025 to nearly INR 9,711 crore by February 2026.
Hybrid long short strategies are driving this growth, accounting for roughly 76% of total SIF assets and attracting the majority of investor inflows.
This trend highlights strong investor interest in diversified, risk managed strategies that combine equity, debt and derivatives. The rising AUM also signals that SIFs are gradually emerging as a credible investment option positioned between traditional mutual funds and high ticket PMS offerings
Latest SEBI Rules For SIFs
- SEBI introduced SIFs via the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2024, creating SIF as a separate asset class alongside existing mutual fund categories.
- SEBI’s February 27, 2025 circular operationalised the framework from April 1, 2025, laying out minimum investment, disclosure norms, leverage/derivative limits, risk buckets and reporting standards for SIF strategies.
- AMCs may offer SIP, SWP and STP in SIF strategies, but must ensure that the investor’s cumulative investment across all SIF strategies of that AMC is at least INR 10 lakh.
- SEBI also prescribes detailed risk labelling and strategy disclosures so that investors clearly understand leverage, concentration and downside risk before investing.
How To Evaluate A SIF Before Investing
Discussed below are some parameters that can help you analyse SIFs optimally.
1. Investment strategy and underlying assets: Each SIF fund discloses its investment strategy, along with its portfolio constituents, in its fact sheet. This is a mandatory requirement. Analysing the investment strategy and portfolio distribution helps to understand the degree of risk.
This becomes more crucial due to the lack of a historic record since SIFs are a new investment. Investors can then judge if the asset is within their risk appetite.
2. Risk-return balance and liquidity profile: Certain metrics, like performance in different market conditions, back-tested strategy returns, help us understand the return expectations of the SIF. Note that these are not historic records but expectations based on optimal analysis and research.
Moreover, liquidity of the fund, analysed through exit load and other such facilities, helps us understand if the liquidity profile suits our investment goal.
3. Minimum investment and target investors: The fact sheet also notifies about the minimum total investment, minimum SIP and target audience. These disclosures help us understand if the investment is within our investment budget.
Now, a clear understanding of an asset is incomplete without comparing it with other investments. So, let us compare SIFs with other investment avenues.
How SIFs Compare to Other Investment Options
Discussed below is the SIF performance comparison with mutual funds and bonds.
| Parameters | SIFs | Mutual Funds |
| Strategy Flexibility | High flexibility with sophisticated investment strategies, like sector rotation, special situation investing, long-short equity, etc. | Lower flexibility with common dependence on long-only strategies for debt, equity and hybrid. Limited use of derivatives. |
| Risk | Higher risks compared to traditional mutual funds due to investment philosophy, target audience and portfolio. | Lower risk compared to SIFs. Risk further varies significantly between categories. |
| Parameters | SIFs | Bonds |
| Liquidity | Moderate liquidity. SIFs do have exit loads, which vary with the fund. | Liquidity varies significantly. However, the secondary market exists. |
| Return | They have potentially higher returns due to sophisticated and niche investing. | It is generally categorised as a fixed-income bearing security. |
Conclusion
As SIFs gain traction in India, we can expect a growing number of funds to cater to evolving investor needs. In the interim, platforms like Grip continue to fill market gaps with innovative products, offering investors additional avenues to diversify and optimize their portfolios. Together, these developments signal a more robust and versatile investment landscape for Indian investors.
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FAQs On Best SIF In India
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