The category is also seeing a broader investor base, with participation no longer limited to high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), according to a September 2026 report by SIF360, a dedicated digital platform to discover, track, and compare Specialised Investment Funds (SIFs).
The category’s AUM rose from ₹4,928 crore in January 2026 to ₹31,175 crore by August, a 528.06% increase, the report said.
AUM in August alone rose 34.51% from ₹23,177 crore in July.
SIF industry at a glance
| Metric | Aug-26 |
| Industry AUM | ₹31,175 crore |
| Live SIFs | 33 |
| AMCs | 17 |
| Folios | 1,25,539 |
| Net flows | ₹7,699.38 crore |
| Gross flows | ₹8,069.51 crore |
| Minimum investment | ₹10 lakh |
| Strategies | 7 |
(Source: SIF360 report; data as of August 31, 2026)
SIF360 said hybrid strategies accounted for 60% of net inflows, indicating strong demand for products combining equity and other asset classes or strategies.
Investor base widens
The growth in folios has outpaced the growth in AUM during the January-August period, according to Nimesh Mehta, Chief Business Officer at Nuvama Asset Management, the specialised alternative investment arm of the Nuvama Group.
“Firstly, SIFs currently have an elevated perception from investors as an opportunity to create a portfolio rather than just one more product in the marketplace. Secondly, the base has widened and is no longer restricted to HNIs,” Mehta said.
According to Mehta, SIF folios increased 5.2 times between January and August 2026, while AUM grew 4.7 times during the same period.
He said the faster growth in folios suggested that smaller investors were also beginning to consider SIFs as part of their asset allocation, rather than the category being limited to HNIs.
“We believe that investors’ behavior is developing on the same lines of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Many investors are past the phase where they need exposure to the market. What they are looking for is diversification and better return on risks they undertake,” Mehta said.
SIFs occupy a distinct space
SIFs operate within the mutual fund regulatory framework while allowing fund managers to use strategies such as long-short investing, active asset allocation, sector rotation and equity strategies focused outside the top 100 stocks.
Mehta said derivatives were an important distinction between SIFs and conventional mutual fund strategies, as they can be used for both protection against market movements and participation in different market directions.
However, he flagged investor understanding as a key issue for the relatively new category.
“One important distinction from mutual funds is that derivatives in SIFs not only offer protection to investors against market movements but also helps them to benefit from both highs and lows in markets,” Mehta said.
He added that investors need to understand the potential returns and drawdowns associated with individual SIF strategies and should look at the products from a portfolio diversification and risk-management perspective.
Three platforms control around 70% of SIF AUM
Despite the rapid expansion in the number of products, the industry remains concentrated among a few early entrants.
| SIF platform | AMC | AUM |
| Altiva | Edelweiss Mutual Fund | ₹10,785 crore |
| iSIF | ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund | ₹5,430 crore |
| Magnum | SBI Mutual Fund | ₹5,119 crore |
(Source: SIF360; data as of August 31, 2026)
The three largest platforms together accounted for approximately 70% of the industry’s AUM, according to SIF360. The report said eight SIF platforms had crossed ₹500 crore in AUM.
Edelweiss Mutual Fund’s Altiva was the largest platform, with ₹10,785 crore, representing nearly one-third of the industry’s total AUM.
Performance varies across strategies
SIF performance has differed across strategies. SIF360 reported an average one-month return of 0.78% for equity long-short SIFs in August, compared with -1.48% for the NSE 500 and -1% for the BSE 500.
Equity ex-top 100 long-short SIFs recorded an average one-month return of 2.59%, according to the report.
Among the six-month performers, the top five SIFs listed by SIF360 were:
| SIF | Strategy | 6-month return |
| qSIF | Equity Ex-Top 100 | 23.40% |
| qSIF | Active Allocator | 13.49% |
| WSIF | Equity Ex-Top 100 | 11.13% |
| iSIF | Hybrid | 7.35% |
| qSIF | Equity | 6.69% |
(Data as of August 31, 2026; Source: SIF360)
These are historical performance figures and are not indicative of future returns. Performance across SIFs also needs to be assessed in the context of their different strategies and risk profiles.
‘Growing maturity’ among investors
Anand Vardarajan, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Asset Management, the investment manager that operates and manages Tata Mutual Fund, said the first year of SIFs reflected changing investor requirements, with investors seeking access to strategies that can operate across different market environments.
According to Vardarajan, investors were looking for a wider set of strategies, while the category was helping bridge the gap between traditional mutual funds and alternative investment products.
He also pointed to investor resilience during periods of muted market returns as evidence of a growing understanding of long-term investing and greater openness to differentiated strategies.
The product universe has continued to expand, with offerings across equity long-short, equity ex-top 100, hybrid long-short, active asset allocation and sector rotation strategies.
Vardarajan cited Tata Mutual Fund’s Titanium Active Asset Allocator Long Short Fund, which combines equity arbitrage, commodity arbitrage and fixed income, as an example of the differentiated strategies emerging within the category.
With 33 SIFs now live across 17 AMCs, the category has moved from a newly introduced investment structure to an established, albeit still early-stage, segment of the regulated investment market.