Franklin Templeton India has announced the launch of Sapphire Equity Long-Short SIF, its first Specialized Investment Fund (SIF). This is an equity long-short fund launched under the SIF framework.
The fund will invest in stocks from the Nifty 500, which helps provide strong diversification across large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap companies.
Sapphire Equity Long-Short SIF aims to grow investors’ wealth over the long term across different market conditions.
It follows a unique model-based quantitative strategy that focuses on sound stock selection, dynamic asset allocation, and strong risk management.
NFO: Investment Strategy
This is an open-ended equity investment strategy that invests in shares of listed companies and related instruments. It also includes limited short positions through derivatives.
The strategy aims to generate better long-term returns by investing across large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap stocks using a long/short equity approach. However, there is no guarantee that the investment objective will be fully achieved.
NFO Dates and Key Details
NFO Opening Date: April 10, 2026
NFO Closing Date: April 24, 2026
Reopening for Buying and Selling: May 4, 2026
Fund Manager: Arihant Jain
Minimum Investment Amount: Rs 10 lakh for the first investment
Additional Investment: In multiples of Rs 10,000
Benchmark: Nifty 500 TRI
Exit Load: 1% if withdrawn within 1 year, no charge after that
Also Read: SBI Mutual Fund’s scheme has increased wealth 16 times in 16 years, with a strong 18% CAGR, and has also performed well in 10-year and 15-year SIPs.
How Stocks Are Selected
The portfolio is built using a disciplined and research-based process.
The investment team uses its experience and studies several important factors, including:
liquidity
sector exposure
company size
risk
investment style
This helps in selecting stocks more effectively.
Why Is It Different From Other Schemes?
According to Avinash Satwelkar, President of Franklin Templeton India, one key difference between SIFs and traditional mutual funds is that SIFs can take short positions of up to 25% of total net assets.
This allows the fund to benefit from market movements and can help reduce losses during market downturns.
SIFs are mainly designed for investors who are ready to take higher risk. They offer the possibility of relatively higher returns and may also provide tax advantages.
Also Read: These 5 mutual funds are leading the 15-year return chart, and each of them has increased investors’ money by at least 13 times.
What the Quantitative Model Does
According to Arihant Jain, Portfolio Manager of Sapphire Equity Long Short SIF, the strategy uses a quantitative model to analyze stocks using multiple indicators.
These include both:
leading indicators
lagging indicators
This is important because different indicators perform better in different market conditions.
The system scores and ranks stocks to identify the right long (buy) and short (sell) positions.
This helps the fund respond to market changes in a more balanced and systematic way. The model is also designed to adapt over time, while keeping risk management as a top priority.
