Photo of Vivaik Sharma

Vivaik Sharma

Partner in the Investment Funds Practice at Mumbai office of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Vivaik has over 11 years of experience of advising reputed fund houses on structuring and setting up investment vehicles like including venture capital funds, private equity funds, hedge funds, real estate funds, infrastructure funds, PIPE funds, fund of funds, pre-IPO funds. He has advised fund managers in structuring and formation of bespoke investment structures, obtaining regulatory approvals and with investor disputes. Vivaik has also represented DFIs and sovereign investor for their investments in fund vehicles and set-up curated managed accounts for global investors. He can be reached at vivaik.sharma@cyrilshroff.com.

Specialized Investment Funds: New Investment Product of The Hour

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) announced the establishment of ‘Specialized Investment Funds’ (“SIF”) vide its amendment to the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 (“Mutual Fund Regulations”), effective December 16, 2024. The amendment was aimed at introducing a new asset class to bridge the gap between Mutual Funds (“MFs”) and Portfolio Management Services (“PMS”). SEBI vide its circular dated February 27, 2025, laid down a comprehensive regulatory framework for SIFs (effective April 1, 2025).Continue Reading Specialized Investment Funds: New Investment Product of The Hour

Disposition of unliquidated assets has been a major challenge for some Alternative Investment Funds (“AIFs”). Most AIFs in the market today are close ended i.e., they have a fixed tenure, within which AIF managers are expected to fully exit the AIF’s portfolio investments. The recent data on AIFs, published by Securities Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”), indicates that AIF investments in unlisted securities are significantly higher (almost by a factor of 2.8) than that in listed securities. SEBI has increased its scrutiny of those AIFs which are seeking tenure extensions, are in the midst of their liquidation period or are struggling with expired liquidation period.Continue Reading Alternative Investment Funds: Dealing with unliquidated investments

SEBI Proposes Key Changes to the AIF Regime

The Securities Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) has been actively updating the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 (“AIF Regulations”) to strengthen the governance mechanism of alternative investment funds (“AIFs”) and bring in more transparency and accountability for market participants. The recent updates seem to be aimed at investor protection and ensuring compliance with the existing array of laws related to AIF Regulations.Continue Reading SEBI Proposes Key Changes to the AIF Regime

Fund structures are gaining popularity among wealthy individuals in India as optimum structures to help with wealth planning, investments, and tax management. Family offices are viewing GIFT City, India’s first international financial services centre (“IFSC”), for the purpose of facilitating global investments in a structured manner. Continue Reading IFSCA Relaxes Rules for Family Investment Funds in GIFT City