Weeks after launching its debut equity long-short strategy, Quant Mutual Fund moved to broaden its Specialised Investment Fund lineup with the launch of the QSIF Hybrid Long-Short Fund, an interval fund that blends equity and debt exposure alongside limited short positions.
The new fund offer for the hybrid strategy ran through September and October 2025, remaining open for subscription until October 9, 2025, before reopening for regular transactions shortly thereafter. Under its mandate, the fund can allocate anywhere between 25% and 75% of assets to equities and a similar 25–75% range to debt instruments, while retaining the flexibility to take short positions of up to 25% through derivatives for tactical, dynamic risk management. The scheme can also allocate up to 20% to REITs and InvITs, giving it exposure to real estate and infrastructure investment trusts alongside its core equity-debt mix.
The fund is benchmarked against the Nifty 50 Hybrid Composite Debt 50:50 Index, reflecting its blended nature. Like Quant's first SIF offering, the hybrid strategy carries a minimum investment requirement of Rs 10 lakh and is targeted at investors who already understand market cycles and are comfortable with derivative-based risk management techniques, rather than first-time mutual fund investors.
The rationale behind combining equity, debt and limited short exposure in a single vehicle is to give the fund manager more room to navigate volatile conditions than a pure equity long-short fund would allow, potentially cushioning downside during sharp market corrections while still preserving room for growth. Later performance data suggested this design showed some benefit during a sharp market downturn in March 2026, when the fund's benchmark, the Hybrid 50:50 index, fell over 6%; independent trackers noted that the hybrid SIF held up notably better than that benchmark during the episode, pointing to the value of its downside-protection design during periods of market stress.
With two live strategies now in the market — the Equity Long-Short Fund and the Hybrid Long-Short Fund — Quant cemented its position as the first mover in India's SIF category, a distinction industry watchers say gives it a head start in building both track record and investor familiarity with the new product type. Other large fund houses are still said to be preparing their own entries into the space, meaning Quant's early lead may not last, but for now it remains the only AMC in the market with multiple live SIF strategies spanning both pure equity and hybrid mandates.