'We are in the difficult phase of bull run'

Following an approval from the markets regulator, Quant Mutual Fund is all set to enter the new-asset class, specialized investment fund.

- Sandeep Tandon

Founder and CIO Sandeep Tandon tells Ananya Grover that investors should not look at this asset class in isolation, but as a combination with other mutual funds. Excerpts:

How should an investor look at SIFs from a strategy point of view?

Quant Specialized Investment Fund (QSIF) should not be looked at in isolation. Through SIFs, there is an additional facility of going short in the market. The moment you exercise this option, the net long exposure comes down to 50%. This is a very nice way of saying that if you are bearish, first cut your longs, then short, effectively you are cutting down on the net short exposure.

Though a lot of people are worried over the risk involved, it's actually a less-risk product. So, if your portfolio exposure after exercising this facility is actually 50% net long, effectively you have cut down your beta by 50%. It's beta management.