Avinash Satwalekar on investment products
From Sapphire Equity Long-Short SIF | In Conversation with Avi Satwalekar and Juzer Tambawalla · · Franklin Templeton India
“What SIFS are doing is introducing that gap in between right right between 500,000 rupees 250 lakhs you've regulators introduced a 10 lakh bucket that allows people that are on that journey have a little more of a risk appetite but haven't quite reached the 50 lakh and so it's actually a great start and the fact I think that today derivatives in a mutual funds are used only for the purpose of hedging versus the ability to use some level of derivatives uh for actually uh looking at generating returns in the portfolio in a bare market is what we offer.”
On , Avinash Satwalekar, President of India at Franklin Resources Inc, spoke about investment products during Sapphire Equity Long-Short SIF | In Conversation with Avi Satwalekar and Juzer Tambawalla on Franklin Templeton India.
About Avinash Satwalekar
Avinash Satwalekar, President of Franklin Templeton India, has been discussing market volatility, investment products, and India's economic outlook in recent appearances. In an April 2026 conversation about the Sapphire Equity Long-Short SIF, Satwalekar said that the current volatility is "not unusual" and that markets go through phases every three to five years, though they appear to be happening more quickly. He described Specialized Investment Funds (SIFs) as filling a gap between mutual funds and Portfolio Management Services, noting that they allow for derivative use beyond hedging, including "0-25% naked shorts," and require a minimum investment of 10 lakh rupees. Satwalekar stated that investors are increasingly focused on using volatility as an opportunity rather than being victims of it. Speaking at EVOKE 2026 in March, Satwalekar addressed India's global position, saying that while foreign investors have pulled out money, they have also invested significantly, and that much of the outflow is due to private equity funds exiting after taking companies public. He said India's oil dependency has decreased by about 27%, and that oil is expected to stabilize around $90 per barrel on average for the year. In a separate March interview with Moneycontrol, Satwalekar advised investors to "stay calm" during volatile markets, focus on long-term goals, and continue systematic investment plans (SIPs), which he said were designed for such conditions. He also expressed confidence in the financial sector, stating that a strong financial system is core to any economy and that nothing has changed regarding the long-term growth outlook for Indian banks.