The offerings, which are set for launch in the coming weeks, have only been allowed under recent regulatory changes.
Motilal Oswal’s Multi-Thematic Active FoF will invest across multiple thematic equity funds, allowing investors to diversify across themes through a single scheme. DSP’s Financial Services Sectoral Debt Fund will invest predominantly in debt and money market instruments issued by banks, NBFCs and other financial sector entities, making it one of the first sector-specific debt funds. AlphaGrep’s Liquid Omni FoF will be the first FoF in the liquid fund space and will invest across active and passive liquid schemes. HDFC’s FTSE India ETF will be among the select few schemes tracking India-focused indices by a foreign provider.
With equities stabilising and investor sentiment improving in recent weeks, fund houses are expected to step up new fund launches in the coming months. The pipeline follows a subdued first half for new fund offers (NFOs), with active equity NFO collections falling to a six-year low in the first half of calendar year 2026 as market volatility and uncertainty weighed on investor appetite.
Among the upcoming offerings, balanced hybrid funds are expected to make a comeback after remaining largely absent for nearly a decade. The category fell out of favour after Sebi’s 2017 scheme categorisation exercise forced fund houses to choose between launching an aggressive hybrid fund and a balanced hybrid fund. Most opted for aggressive hybrid schemes because they qualified for equity taxation.
That changed earlier this year after Sebi allowed asset management companies to offer both categories. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund recently launched a scheme in the category, while SBI MF, Kotak MF and Baroda BNP Paribas MF have received regulatory approvals and are expected to launch their schemes soon. Industry executives believe the category could appeal to investors looking for a more predictable 40-60 per cent equity-debt allocation, unlike balanced advantage funds, where equity exposure can vary significantly depending on the fund manager’s view of the market.
