Open Ended vs Interval Fund: what it means for a SIF
Open-ended schemes allow subscription/redemption on any business day at NAV; interval schemes only allow transactions during specified windows.
Open Ended Schemes allow investors to buy or sell units on any business day, at that day's NAV. This is the same structure most mutual fund investors are already familiar with.
Interval Fund Schemes only accept subscriptions and redemptions during specified transaction windows, disclosed in advance by the AMC. Outside those windows, the fund is effectively closed to transactions. This structure suits strategies that hold less liquid or longer-duration positions, since the fund manager isn't forced to sell into daily redemption pressure.
Under the SIF framework, SEBI has specifically exempted interval strategies from the maturity-matching norms that apply to regular interval mutual funds, giving SIF managers more flexibility in how they structure the portfolio against the transaction calendar.
A third structure, Close Ended Schemes, is also permitted under the SIF framework (fixed tenure, units only redeemable at maturity or via exchange listing) even where no live scheme currently uses it — if one launches, the same open-vs-interval-vs-closed logic applies: check the SID for the exact subscription/redemption terms.