What’s actually available — and how the options differ for a contract-based income

A mutual fund pools money from many investors and invests it in stocks, bonds, or a mix of both, managed by a professional fund manager. For most mariners, this is the core building block — accessible with small, flexible investments, and well suited to SIPs that can pause and resume around contract cycles.

AIFs are privately pooled investment vehicles that invest in assets outside the traditional stocks-and-bonds universe — think private equity, venture capital, or hedge-fund-style strategies. They typically require a minimum investment of ₹1 crore and are regulated separately from mutual funds by SEBI. AIFs generally suit investors with a high risk appetite, a long time horizon, and capital they can afford to lock in for years. We help clients access AIF strategies through Centracity, which is separately empanelled for AIF distribution — always after a full conversation about whether it genuinely fits your situation.

PMS is a professionally managed portfolio of direct stocks (or other securities) built specifically for one investor, rather than pooled with others as in a mutual fund. The minimum investment is currently ₹50 lakh. Because it’s tailored and direct, PMS offers more personalisation than a mutual fund — along with higher fees, less liquidity, and no diversification benefit of pooling with other investors. We help clients access PMS strategies through Centracity, which is separately registered with APMI for PMS distribution — for those with the capital and risk appetite it requires.

SIFs are a newer SEBI-regulated category sitting between mutual funds and PMS/AIF — offering more flexible, higher-risk strategies than a standard mutual fund, with a lower entry threshold than AIF or PMS (typically starting around ₹10 lakh). They’re designed for investors who want more sophisticated strategies than a traditional mutual fund but aren’t yet at the AIF/PMS investment scale. We’re currently completing our SIF certification and will be able to help clients access these directly soon — for now, this section is for general education only.

Buying shares means owning a small piece of a specific listed company directly, through a demat and trading account. It offers full control over what you own, but requires far more time, research, and risk tolerance than investing through a fund — there’s no professional manager or diversification cushioning individual stock swings.

These are shares in companies not yet listed on a public stock exchange — often bought pre-IPO through specialised platforms or private transactions. They can offer high growth potential if a company later lists successfully, but come with limited liquidity, wide bid-ask spreads, less regulatory oversight, and real difficulty exiting the investment when you need to.