The Nifty fell in August. This fund went the other way.
August wasn’t a great month for Indian equities. The Nifty 50 ended it down 1.14%. Over the same four weeks, the Apex Hybrid Long-Short Fund’s NAV moved from ₹10.53 to ₹10.74, a rise of 1.99%.
A few people messaged me after I posted that number, mostly with the same question: how does a fund that holds shares go up when the market goes down? It’s a fair question, and the answer is in how the portfolio is put together. So I’ve written it out properly here instead of squeezing it into a caption.
First, what kind of fund this is
Apex is a Specialised Investment Fund (SIF) from Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund. SIFs are a newer SEBI category. They’re run by mutual fund houses but allowed more flexibility than a regular mutual fund, including taking limited short positions through derivatives. That flexibility comes with a higher minimum, ₹10 lakh, and higher risk.
The fund launched on 25 March 2026. That means everything below covers about six months, which is worth remembering as you read it.
Every month since launch
This is the absolute change in the Regular Plan Growth NAV for each month. No month so far has ended lower than it started.
The first three months were quiet, which is normal for a new fund that’s still putting money to work. June and July were the strongest. September so far is close to flat.
How the portfolio is built
This is the part that answers the August question. As on 31 August, the money was split like this:
On paper, about 38% of the fund sits in shares. But most of that is hedged. The 32% in arbitrage works roughly like this: the fund buys a share in the cash market and sells its futures contract at the same time, earning the small gap between the two prices. If the share falls, the futures position gains about the same amount, so the market’s direction largely cancels out.
That small slice is why a 1.14% drop in the Nifty didn’t do much damage. Most of the return came from bonds, arbitrage spreads and cash, which don’t depend on whether the market goes up or down that month.
Against its benchmark
The fund’s benchmark is the NIFTY 50 Hybrid Composite Debt 50:50 Index, a half-equity, half-debt mix. From launch to 31 August:
Absolute returns, Regular Plan Growth. The fund is under a year old, so these are not annualised.
The fund is growing
Assets under management went from ₹107 crore at the end of July to ₹176 crore at the end of August. That’s still a small fund by mutual fund standards, which is normal for a SIF this early.
What I keep in mind
I like seeing the numbers laid out like this, but I’m also careful about how much to read into them.
- Six months is a short record. The fund hasn’t yet been through a long or sharp market fall.
- A low-exposure portfolio cuts both ways. The same structure that cushioned August means the fund won’t keep pace with equities in a strong rally.
- The mix can change. The allocation above is a snapshot from 31 August. The fund manager can shift it within the scheme’s limits.
- It’s a SIF, not a regular mutual fund. The ₹10 lakh minimum and higher risk mean it isn’t suitable for every portfolio.
Sources: Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC factsheet and monthly portfolio statements (31 August 2026); Nifty 50 August return from NSE month-end closes. September figure based on the 25 September 2026 NAV. All fund returns are absolute, Regular Plan Growth.
Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.
Past performance may or may not be sustained in the future. Investments in SIF involve higher risk including potential loss of capital. This article is for information only and is not investment advice.
Ashish Jain · AMFI Reg. MFD · ARN-294841 · investingtfd.com