Privately Pooled Investment Vehicle
The defining phrase in the AIF definition — the fund is pooled from select institutions and high net worth individuals who understand higher risk taking and complex arrangements, and not from the general public at large.
This one is not written up yet
The definition above is the short version. A full explanation — how it works, a worked example and the exam traps — is still being written. In the meantime the chapter below covers it in context.
Written up from the same chapter
- Angel FundA sub-category of Category I AIF, registered with SEBI specifically as an angel fund, which raises money from angel investors and invests it in start-ups deal by deal rather than through schemes.
- Category I AIFThe AIF category for funds the government or a regulator treats as socially or economically desirable — venture capital, angel, SME, social impact, infrastructure, special situation and CDMDF funds.
- Category II AIFThe residual AIF category: anything that is neither Category I nor Category III and takes no fund-level leverage beyond a narrow temporary carve-out — private equity, private debt and fund-of-funds.
- Category III AIFThe AIF category for funds running diverse or complex trading strategies with leverage — hedge funds and their kin — and the only category denied tax pass-through status.
- Corporate Debt Market Development FundA close-ended Category I AIF, formed as a trust with a 15-year tenure, that buys investment-grade corporate bonds from debt mutual fund schemes when SEBI declares a market dislocation.
- Fund of fundsAn AIF that invests in the units of other AIFs rather than directly in investee companies — buying diversification across managers and strategies, and paying two layers of fees for it.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series XIX-C← All terms