Parag Parikh Mutual Fund is buying more REITs. Are HDFC, SBI and ICICI Pru AMCs also following?

Amid market volatility in 2026, Parag Parikh Mutual Fund has been quietly increasing its allocation towards Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). The REIT and InVIT exposure of the fund has increased from just 1.38% of total assets in January 2026 to 4.13% in April.

Given that Parag Parikh Mutual Fund is widely tracked by both investors and market experts, it is natural to assume that many other mutual fund houses may also be warming up to REITs and InVITs. However, data shows that only a few fund houses have an interest in allocating at least 1% or more of their assets to REITs and InvITs.

A comparison across fund houses shows only three fund houses have allocated more than 1% of their portfolio to REITs and InVITs. These are Parag Parikh Mutual Fund, Capitalmind Mutual Fund and WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund. Among them, WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund has maintained an allocation of over 2.8% allocation to REITs and InvITs since June 2025. Over the last four months, its allocation has gone up from 5.55% to 5.68%.

The following table shows the month-wise portfolio allocation of the three fund houses towards REITs and InvITs since January 2026:

Are SBI, HDFC and ICICI Pru AMCs following PPFAS?

No. The three AMCs havs less than 1% allocation to REITs and InvITs.

• SBI Mutual Fund had only a 0.27% allocation to REITs and InvITs in April 2026, down from 0.29% in March 2026.

• HDFC Mutual Fund had only a 0.60% allocation towards REITs and InvITs in April, down from 0.64% in March 2026. The fund house has maintained an almost steady allocation of around 0.6% towards REITs and InvITs since June 2025.

• ICICI Pru Mutual Fund had only 0.54% allocation towards REITs and InvITs in April, down from 0.59% in March 2026. The fund house has maintained an almost steady allocation of around 0.5% towards REITs and InvITs since June 2025.

Why is PPFAS increasing its investments in REITs and InvITs?

Even as stock markets remain volatile, Parag Parikh Mutual Fund's increasing real estate allocation has caught the attention of industry watchers. While the fund house has not given any official explanation for increasing its real estate allocation, Rajeev Thakkar, chief investment officer of PPFAS, had recently shared his views on REITs in an interview with 1 Finance. He had said that REITs offer both regular returns and regular cash payouts. According to him, double-digit returns can be expected from REITs if we combine the dividend yield of around 6% with the 5-6% capital appreciation.

How have REITs performed?

REITs are expected to offer a predictable return while behaving like equity in terms of tradeability and tax.

The annualised returns of three of the four REITs (Embassy Office, Mindspace and Nexus Select) since their respective launch dates have been in double digits. Brookfield India REIT has delivered 9.1% anualised returns.

Over the last year, the dividend yields of the four popular REITs have been as follows:

REITs are seen as an instrument for steady income. They earn regular rental income, which is distributed among unitholders. However, they also come with certain risks. For instance, they can also suffer during market downturns. Moreover, one can face a liquidity crunch when trying to exit large positions quickly, as the daily volumes of REITs on exchanges are low.