Inflows into SIFs outpace popular equity MF categories in July

SIFs saw their net assets and monthly inflows rise 30% in July, according to the latest data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi). Monthly net inflows have nearly quadrupled from Rs 1,314 crore in March 2026 to Rs 4,921 crore in July. Total net assets rose from Rs 10,620 crore to Rs 23,177 crore during the same period.

The industry leaders are Altiva SIF of Edelweiss AMC, iSIF of ICICI Prudential AMC and Magnum SIF of SBI AMC, which together account for about 75% of the industry’s total assets.

Radhika Gupta, MD and CEO, Edelweiss AMC, said SIFs were gaining investor attention as a differentiated product category, with seven sub-categories offering more specific solutions to diversify portfolios beyond traditional mutual funds. SIFs, she said, could be particularly useful for investors seeking differentiated investment strategies.

Akhil Chaturvedi, executive director and chief business officer, Motilal Oswal AMC, said affluent investors were showing considerable curiosity about SIFs because of their perceived stability compared with traditional equity funds.

Sandeep Seth, founder and CEO, SIF360, said SIFs were attracting investors with portfolios of more than Rs 50 lakh amid market uncertainty and a search for better risk-adjusted returns. Some investors were shifting allocations from hybrid categories such as balanced advantage and equity savings funds, while others were moving from PMS to SIFs in search of better post-tax returns. Institutions, too, were shifting money from arbitrage funds to SIFs for higher returns, he said.

Manuj Jain, co-founder, ValueMetrics Technologies, attributed the rising interest in SIFs to market volatility over the past two quarters, which created a conducive environment for the long-short and other market-neutral strategies deployed by several SIFs. New scheme launches by fund houses also helped increase investor awareness and attract flows, he said.

The hybrid long-short category was the biggest contributor to SIF inflows, attracting Rs 3,258 crore in July, or about two-thirds of total SIF inflows. Monthly inflows into the category have nearly quadrupled from Rs 844 crore in March 2026.

The average ticket size of hybrid long-short funds also rose about 16% during the period to Rs 36.95 lakh in July, compared with an industry average of Rs 24.54 lakh across categories.

Gupta said hybrid long-short funds offered an alternative to traditional fixed-income or balanced advantage strategies. The use of derivatives along with income-generating assets could potentially help deliver more consistent returns with lower volatility, she said.

CAMS data showed that investors across age groups and geographies were increasingly moving towards SIFs. About 50% of the SIF investor base was in the 40-60 age group, while 31% was above 60, as of June 2026.

SIFs also had a significant presence beyond the top 30 cities, with 53% of their investor base coming from B30 locations, which accounted for about 33% of total net assets as of June.

Seth said hybrid SIFs were being used by investors aged above 60, with a corpus of Rs 1-2 crore, to generate systematic monthly withdrawals after retirement. The product’s equity-like taxation, higher potential returns than traditional avenues such as fixed deposits, and liquidity made it attractive to this investor segment, he said.

Jain expects demand for SIFs to remain resilient even if a recovery in the equity markets moderates the relative appeal of long-short strategies. Investors, he said, are increasingly looking for differentiated strategies beyond traditional long-only products.

*(-) sign indicates net outflows