While the rest of the industry is scrambling to roll out the shiny new equity specialised investment funds (SIFs), the CEO of a mutual fund biggie has been conspicuously sitting it out. And naturally, that’s got people talking. Word on the street is, he’s not buying the hype just yet and fears regulatory intervention. Why? Most of the funds, which have launched SIFs, are running it as a plain vanilla equity fund. That was not the purpose of introducing SIFs, which is different because of the option to short sell. Not many fund houses seem to have the talent or the nerve to actually use those strategies. Instead, they’re playing it safe, sticking to their good old buy-and-hold playbook. Now that raises an uncomfortable question: if nothing’s really different, what exactly are the clients paying for?


(For more on our weekly roundup of wackiest whispers and murmurs in corporate corridors & policy parlours, pick up today's edition of The Economic Times newspaper)