Mirae Asset MF's Gaurik Shah Emphasizes Risk Mitigation in Launch of First SIF Product

Mirae Asset MF Launches First Specialized Investment Fund (SIF) Product

Mirae Asset Mutual Fund has announced the launch of its first Specialized Investment Fund (SIF) product, Platinum SIF by Mirae Asset Mutual Fund Hybrid Long-Short. This conservative "Arbitrage Plus" strategy aims to provide risk-adjusted returns in a tax-efficient structure.

The hybrid SIF market is increasingly bifurcating into conservative and aggressive offerings. According to Gaurik Shah, Senior Vice President-Equity Investments at Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India), the market is now divided into two categories of hybrids - conservative and aggressive. Aggressive products are targeting BAF-plus type returns, while Mirae Asset's Platinum SIF is positioned on the conservative side.

Mirae Asset's target for the Platinum SIF is similar to their existing conservative equity portfolio, which they call 'Arbitrage Plus.' This strategy aims to generate 200-300 basis points above arbitrage returns. The fund house believes there is a good market for this type of conservative offering.

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Risk Management Remains Central to the Strategy

Risk management is a key focus area for Mirae Asset's Platinum SIF. Gaurik Shah stressed that risk management needs to be looked at in a very focused way, particularly because of the non-linear nature of options exposure. He explained that the problem with option strategies is that risk comes non-linearly, and one inflection point can change everything.

The fund will primarily deploy collar and arbitrage strategies, with around 65-70% of allocations dedicated to those structures. If markets are weak, collar strategies are more likely to lose money, so the fund will move more toward arbitrage. If markets are stable or rising, the fund can move more toward collars.

Mirae Asset has chosen collar strategies over covered calls because of the downside protection embedded in collars. Every collar position will be hedged, providing protection if markets crash 10-20% overnight.

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Fixed Income Allocation and Distribution Strategy

On fixed income allocation, Gaurik Shah said the strategy will maintain a conservative stance by focusing on high-quality issuers. The objective is not to generate additional risk through credit. Conservative does not necessarily mean only AAA - the fund may go down to AA+ when they have strong conviction, but the overall philosophy remains conservative.

The National Fund Offer (NFO) for the Platinum SIF will be open from May 20 to June 3. The category of SIF has been steadily growing at an AUM of more than Rs 12,000 crores as of April 2026. However, distribution continues to be a challenge, with currently around 6,000 distributors cleared the exams.

To address this challenge, Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) has undertaken multiple distributor awareness and training initiatives across locations for both distributors and their teams. The outreach has been conducted through a mix of physical and digital formats, depending on the market and audience requirements. The focus has been on helping distributors understand SIF structures, portfolio positioning, risk frameworks, liquidity considerations, and investor suitability in a simple and practical manner.

Note: The table above provides a comparison of the SIF AUM and the number of distributors cleared exams in the conservative and aggressive categories.