Apex Equity Ex-Top 100 LS

The objective, verbatim from the scheme documents. The ISID states: "To generate capital appreciation in long term by investing in equity and equity related securities of Ex – top 100 companies. The Investment Strategy may also invest in various derivative instruments, including short exposure through unhedged derivative positions in equity and equity related instruments. There is no assurance that the investment objective of the Investment strategy will be achieved." The KIM, the AMFI Investment Strategy Summary Document and Apex SIF's scheme page carry the same wording, and the SEBI category is Equity Ex-Top 100 Long-Short Fund. (Source: ISID and KIM, both dated 22 Jul 2026; AMFI Investment Strategy Summary Document S-32; Apex SIF scheme page, viewed 3 Nov 2026.)

Open-ended, with daily dealing and no notice period. Aditya Birla Sun Life describes the strategy as "An open ended investment strategy investing in equity and equity related instruments including limited short exposure in equity through derivative instruments of Ex – top 100 stocks." Purchases and redemptions are accepted on every business day, with a 3.00 p.m. cut-off for the same day's NAV; the notice period is stated as not applicable, and redemption proceeds are to be transferred within three working days. Only the Growth option is offered under the Regular and Direct plans; the ISID states that an IDCW option is not currently offered. AMFI's summary document shows no stock-exchange listing. The ISID and KIM set an exit load of 1% on units redeemed within 365 days; Notice-cum-Addendum No. 17/2026 revised this to 0.50% on or before 90 days (Nil after) for investments made on or after 7 October 2026. (Source: ISID and KIM dated 22 Jul 2026; Apex SIF Addendum No. 17/2026 dated 5 Oct 2026; AMFI Investment Strategy Summary Document S-32.)

Asset-allocation bands, and what "ex-top 100" means. Under normal circumstances, equity and equity-related securities of ex-top 100 companies, including up to 25% in unhedged short exposure through derivatives, make up 65% to 100% of total assets; other equity and equity-related instruments 0% to 35%; debt, cash and money-market instruments 0% to 35%; and units of InvITs 0% to 20%. The ISID defines ex-top 100 companies as all companies other than large caps, using AMFI's list, in which large caps are the 1st to 100th companies by full market capitalisation. Its benchmark rationale describes the core allocation as mid and small caps with the residual in large caps, which is why it uses the broad Nifty 500 TRI. The ISID permits up to 35% of net assets in foreign securities, with limits of US$50 million in overseas securities and US$20 million in overseas ETFs for the six months after the NFO closes, and no shorting in overseas derivatives; units of mutual funds may make up to 20% of net assets, and cumulative gross exposure may not exceed 100% of net assets. (Source: ISID dated 22 Jul 2026; AMFI Investment Strategy Summary Document S-32.)

How derivatives may be used. Derivatives exposure may reach 100% of net assets, with unhedged short positions of up to 25% of net assets in exchange-traded instruments such as stock and index futures and options. The ISID says the strategy will deploy structured derivative strategies, including covered calls and synthetic options such as straddles, strangles and put-call parity trades, to enhance yield, and may use interest rate swaps, interest rate futures and forward rate agreements for hedging and portfolio balancing. Its indicative table, which sets out a potential risk and a risk mitigant for each line, covers cash-futures arbitrage, covered call writing, protective puts, pair trades, index or stock futures and options for hedging or beta adjustment, long or short straddles and strangles, and directional futures and options, and notes that more complex strategies may be added within SEBI guidelines and risk controls. The strategy may also lend stock (up to 20% of net assets) and engage in short selling. (Source: ISID dated 22 Jul 2026.)

How Aditya Birla Sun Life describes its process. The ISID says the strategy will follow a bottom-up and top-down approach focused on the fundamentals of the business, industry structure, quality of management and key earnings drivers; it aims to be sector agnostic, may adopt defensive or opportunistic strategies, and may hold long and short exposures through stocks, baskets of stocks and stock or index derivatives. In its NFO presentation, the AMC describes a multi-signal framework — a mix of short- and long-term momentum indicators, valuation, and options positioning — for setting net equity exposure; an indicative long book of about 50% core long, 40% opportunistic long and 10% special situations, with a market-cap mix of up to 20% large, 65–80% mid and 10–30% small cap (AMFI classification); and a short book built from core shorts (overvaluation with risk to earnings, deteriorating fundamentals, corporate-governance red flags), opportunistic shorts (negative earnings surprises, companies entering a cyclical downturn) and pair trades that hedge long sector exposure. It states that positioning may change with market conditions. The presentation also prints back-tested figures for an illustrative model, which the AMC says do not represent actual performance; Trustner does not reproduce them. (Source: ISID dated 22 Jul 2026; Apex SIF NFO presentation dated 6 Aug 2026.)

Launch dates. The NFO ran from 10 to 24 August 2026 at Rs 10 per unit. The AMFI Investment Strategy Summary Document records allotment on 31 August 2026 and re-opening on 1 September 2026, and AMFI's SIF NAV history shows the first NAV for the Regular Growth plan (SIF-156) dated 1 September 2026. The ISID notes that, as a new strategy, it has no performance track record. (Source: ISID dated 22 Jul 2026; AMFI Investment Strategy Summary Document S-32; AMFI SIF NAV history, SIF-156.)

Risk band: Level 5 at the NFO, Level 3 now. The ISID and KIM placed the strategy at Risk Band Level 5, and its benchmark, the Nifty 500 TRI, at Level 3, on the AMFI 1–5 scale, and note that this NFO-stage label is based on internal assessment and may vary once actual investments are made. Based on the portfolio as of 31 August 2026, the AMC revised the band to Level 1 (Addendum No. 15/2026, 9 September 2026); based on the portfolio as of 30 September 2026, it was revised to Level 3 (Addendum No. 18/2026, 7 October 2026), which is also the as-on-date level in AMFI's summary document. The ISID states that risk bands are evaluated monthly. (Source: ISID and KIM dated 22 Jul 2026; Apex SIF Addenda No. 15/2026 and 18/2026; AMFI Investment Strategy Summary Document S-32.)

Two named fund managers. The ISID and KIM name Mr. Manish Gupta for the equity portion and Mr. Harshil Suvarnkar for the debt portion. AMFI's summary document records Gupta as primary manager and Suvarnkar as co-manager, both from 31 August 2026, and the same two manage Apex Equity Long-Short Fund. Apex SIF's published addenda since the ISID date contain no change of fund manager for this strategy. (Source: ISID and KIM dated 22 Jul 2026; AMFI Investment Strategy Summary Document S-32; Apex SIF scheme page and addenda list, viewed 3 Nov 2026.)