What is Specialised Investment Funds (SIFs). 
These newly introduced vehicles offer a groundbreaking opportunity for both fund managers and investors to express and potentially benefit from bearish or market-neutral views. Until now, mutual fund strategies were like cars with only forward gears—some higher, some lower—but no reverse. SIFs have just added that much-needed reverse gear. With SEBI's recent approval, SIFs can now go long or short, depending on the market view.

This is a watershed moment for the mutual fund industry, which until now has offered only bull-tilted products—those that favor rising markets.

SIFs also have the potential to attract PMS and AIF investors due to lower ticket sizes and mutual fund-style taxation. They could help consolidate flows that currently leak into unorganised or unregulated 'advisory' channels. The product structure is similar to mutual funds, with a cumulative entry threshold of Rs 10 lakh per investor across SIFs from the same asset manager.

With the mutual fund industry currently managing around Rs 68 lakh crore (as per industry sources), nearly all of which is tilted long, SIFs—with their ability to be long, short, or even neutral—could catalyze significant expansion. 
One of the biggest advantages of SIFs is their tax treatment—identical to mutual funds. Gains are taxed based on the holding period (short-term or long-term), while underlying portfolio churn does not trigger taxation for the investor. 
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the sky is the limit for SIFs. The current framework could just be the beginning.