विशेष इन्व्हेस्टमेंट फंड ॲसेटमध्ये ₹36,000-37,000 कोटी पर्यंत पोहोचतात आणि 1.5 लाख फोलिओ ओलांडतात

मुख्य टेकअवे

Specialised Investment Funds have accumulated approximately ₹36,000–37,000 crore in assets and more than 1.5 lakh investor folios, according to figures discussed at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit.

SIFs operate with a minimum investment threshold of ₹10 lakh and provide greater flexibility in portfolio construction than conventional mutual fund schemes.

Industry participants identified limited distribution capacity as an important challenge, with around 11,000–12,000 distributors equipped to sell SIF products.

बॉडी

India's Specialised Investment Fund (SIF) category has attracted assets of approximately ₹36,000–37,000 crore and crossed 1.5 lakh investor folios during its first year, according to figures shared by industry participants at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit on October 28, 2026.

The figures offer an indication of the early scale achieved by the investment category, which operates within the mutual fund regulatory framework but permits investment strategies that differ from those used by conventional schemes.

Gaurav Mehta, Head of SIF Equity at SBI Mutual Fund, discussed the category's development during a panel on India's wealth-management industry.

How SIFs Compare With Conventional Mutual Funds

SIFs have a minimum investment requirement of ₹10 lakh. The category permits greater flexibility in the use of derivatives and investment strategies, subject to the applicable regulatory framework.

Products within the category can follow equity, fixed-income or hybrid strategies.

This structure allows fund managers to construct portfolios using approaches that may differ from traditional long-only mutual funds.

However, additional flexibility can introduce risks that are different from those of conventional mutual fund schemes, depending on the strategy and its derivatives exposure.

SIF Assets Remain Small Relative to the Mutual Fund Industry

Industry participants compared the ₹36,000–37,000 crore SIF asset base with conventional mutual fund industry assets of approximately ₹82–83 lakh crore.

At these levels, SIF assets represent less than 0.5% of the conventional mutual fund industry's assets.

The figures also show the difference in participation levels. SIFs have crossed 1.5 lakh folios, while the broader mutual fund industry has hundreds of millions of folios across its schemes.

A folio represents an investment account or holding record and should not be confused with a unique investor.

Distribution Capacity Remains a Constraint

The number of intermediaries equipped to distribute SIF products is another distinction.

Mehta indicated that approximately 11,000–12,000 distributors were equipped to sell SIFs, compared with more than 2 lakh distributors across the conventional mutual fund industry.

Industry participants discussed certification changes and distributor training as ways to improve access to the category.

The availability of appropriately trained intermediaries matters because specialised strategies may require investors to understand derivative exposure, liquidity conditions and the risks of individual investment approaches.

New Products Expand Investment Structures

Participants also discussed the relationship between SIFs, portfolio management services and alternative investment funds.

These products serve different investment requirements, carry different minimum commitments and operate under different regulatory conditions.

The first-year asset and folio figures establish an initial scale for SIFs. They do not indicate scheme-level investment performance or establish how rapidly the category will expand in subsequent periods.