After going digital direct with its MF, Jio BlackRock is tapping distributors for its SIF. Here’s why

Jio BlackRock, the asset management arm of Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Financial Services, which is getting ready to launch its Specialised Investment Fund (SIF) in the coming months, is looking to tap distributors as it looks to make inroads in the space.

The company, a joint venture between Jio Financial Services and global asset manager BlackRock, had entered the mutual funds space with its first scheme launched in July 2025. Since then, it now has 14 schemes and a quarterly AUM of Rs 15,000 crore. All of that, however, was digital direct.

That is all set to change, with distributors set to play a major role in its SIF business. After the launch of the SIF business, Jio BlackRock also aims to tap the large distributor base for its mutual fund business.

Sid Swaminathan, the MD and CEO of Jio BlackRock AMC, said the plan was to launch and scale up digitally in the first phase. But there would always be a section of the market that would require more hand holding and hence the distributor connect. 

“We had multiple phases to our plan. So, phase one for us, which is when we launched with the initial mutual funds, was to lean on Jio’s digital ecosystem and leveraging the BlackRock expertise to launch innovative products that didn’t exist in the mutual fund space here in India,” Swaminathan told BT. 

Jio BlackRock MF has a retail customer base of around 1.1 million, and 20% of them are first-time investors, he noted. Also, 40% of its retail AUM now comes from beyond the top 30 cities, he added.

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SIFs being more complex products, and having a higher minimum ticket size, may require more explanation to clients and therefore it’s in talks with many distributors as it prepares for the launch. 

“We will probably still see a lot of digital investors come directly. But this is the area where if you want to be getting into more complex products, you need the combination of physical and digital. So, that’s why we are moving into a physical execution model,” said Swaminathan.

The mutual fund schemes currently continue to be sold via direct channels. The SIF will be the first product by Jio BlackRock to tap distributors, which will then be expanded to mutual funds too. 

Jio BlackRock has already received approval to launch the SIF business. It has filed papers with market regulator Sebi for its first product under SIF, which will be in the hybrid category, and is awaiting approval for the same. Swaminathan is hopeful of launching it in the next couple of months. 

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“When we look at all of the categories that are available, each of them has a unique value proposition. Where we felt the value proposition was strongest, especially when you look at the total returns that you can deliver, the risk at which you can deliver those returns, and then you add-on the tax efficiency, hybrid was the sweet spot,” he noted. 

Apart from the SIF, Jio BlackRock is also in the process of setting up an entity in the GIFT International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), for which it is awaiting final approvals. Through GIFT, the company will provide investors access to some of the global funds and strategies of BlackRock. 

BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager, which ended 2025 with a record $14 trillion in AUM. 

Jio BlackRock also plans to launch Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) over the next six months, said Swaminathan. 

Equity markets have gone through a lot of volatility over the past 12-15 months. Swaminathan feels the key for investors is to stay invested through market corrections. 

“Unless investors have very short-term cash requirement, the best thing they can do is stay invested. if they have additional capital and they can deploy during these times to rupee cost average their exposures even better,” he added.