What is an AIF? A plain guide for 2026
To answer what is an AIF simply: an AIF, or Alternative Investment Fund, is a privately pooled investment vehicle registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). It raises money from a small group of large investors and puts it to work under a defined strategy, from venture capital to private equity to hedge-fund-style trading. It is not a retail product, and unlike a mutual fund, it does not publish its holdings to the public.
Definition
An AIF (Alternative Investment Fund)
is a privately pooled investment vehicle registered with SEBI under the 2012 AIF Regulations that raises capital from a limited set of sophisticated investors to invest under a defined strategy. SEBI sorts AIFs into three categories and sets a 1 crore rupee minimum commitment, which does not apply to an accredited investor. Source: SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012, regulations 2(1)(b) and 10(c).
What is an AIF, and who can invest in one?
An AIF sits under the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012. Because it is privately placed rather than sold to the retail public, SEBI restricts it to investors who can meet a high minimum. The minimum commitment is 1 crore rupees per investor under regulation 10(c), dropping to 25 lakh rupees for employees and directors of the fund or its manager. That floor does not apply to an accredited investor, and accredited investors are also excluded when counting a scheme against the 1,000 investor cap. Each scheme needs a corpus of at least 20 crore rupees, or 5 crore rupees for a social impact fund.
Angel funds now sit outside all of this. Regulation 19B(2) disapplies regulation 10(a) to (d) and (f) to angel funds, and following SEBI's Second Amendment Regulations, 2025 an angel fund may raise funds only from accredited investors, with no minimum value of investment applicable to an angel investor. The older 25 lakh rupee angel investor floor is no longer the position, and neither is an angel fund corpus requirement: the figure immediately before the 2025 omission was 5 crore rupees under the old regulation 19D(2), not the 10 crore rupees this page previously carried.
1 crore rupees
Minimum investment commitment in an AIF, 25 lakh rupees for fund and manager staff, and no floor for an accredited investor
Source: SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012, regulation 10(c), as amended to 14 July 2026
The three categories of AIF
SEBI groups AIFs by the kind of strategy they run. The category tells you what a fund is allowed to do and, broadly, how much regulatory latitude it has.
| Category | What it covers | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Category I | Venture capital, infrastructure, SME, social impact funds, angel funds | Invests in areas seen as economically desirable |
| Category II | Private equity, debt funds, funds of funds | No specific incentive or major leverage |
| Category III | Hedge funds, strategies using leverage or derivatives | Widest strategy latitude |
How AIF disclosure differs from public filings
This is the part that matters if you track holdings from public records. An AIF is privately placed, so it does not publish a per-holding portfolio to the open market. It reports to SEBI and to its own investors. That is the opposite of the disclosure regimes Flock reads: a mutual fund publishes its full portfolio monthly, a US manager files a 13F listing its holdings, and every listed company names its large shareholders in its shareholding pattern. AIF holdings are not part of that public record.
So when someone asks what is an AIF and whether they can see inside one, the honest answer is that the vehicle is private by design. You can verify what a mutual fund or a 13F filer holds from the filings. You generally cannot do the same for an AIF. Flock works from the public filing record, and what any disclosure means for you is your call to make.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum investment in an AIF?
The minimum investor commitment in an AIF is 1 crore rupees, dropping to 25 lakh rupees for employees and directors of the fund or its manager. The floor does not apply to an accredited investor. Angel funds are a separate case: they may raise funds only from accredited investors and no minimum value of investment applies to an angel investor. Source: SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012, regulations 10(c) and 19D, as amended to 14 July 2026.
What are the three categories of AIF?
Category I covers venture capital, infrastructure, SME, social impact funds (called social venture funds until the 2022 amendment renamed them), and angel funds. Category II covers private equity, debt funds, and funds of funds. Category III covers hedge funds and strategies that use leverage or derivatives. Source: SEBI.
Are AIF holdings disclosed publicly?
No. An AIF is privately placed with a limited set of investors and does not publish its portfolio to the public the way a mutual fund or a 13F filer does. AIF holdings are reported to SEBI and to the fund's own investors, not the open market. Source: SEBI.
How is an AIF different from a mutual fund?
A mutual fund is offered to the retail public and must disclose its full portfolio monthly. An AIF is privately pooled from a small number of large investors, has a 1 crore rupee minimum, and does not publish holdings publicly. Source: SEBI, AMFI.
Flock tracks these filings, sourced, dated, and linked back to the original. See what smart-money entities disclosed, without the guesswork about what it means.
Disclosures shown are public regulatory filings. Data may be delayed or incomplete. Smart-money entities may no longer hold positions shown. Not investment advice.