What is a Scheme Information Document (SID)? (2026)

To answer what is a Scheme Information Document: it is the official offer document a fund house files with SEBI for a single mutual fund scheme, before that scheme is sold to the public. It sets out, in a format SEBI prescribes, exactly what the scheme will do with your money: its objective, where it can invest, its costs, its risks, and who runs it. It is the primary reference for one specific scheme, not marketing material.

What does a Scheme Information Document disclose?

A SID exists so that every material fact about a scheme sits in one place, filed under regulatory obligation. Because SEBI sets a common format, the sections read the same across fund houses, which makes two schemes comparable. The core sections are:

• Investment objective and asset allocation: what the scheme aims to do and the percentage bands it can hold across equity, debt, and other assets.
• Riskometer: the scheme's risk level on SEBI's six-point scale, from Low to Very High.
• Benchmark: the index the scheme measures itself against.
• Fees and exit load: the expense structure and any charge for exiting early.
• Fund manager and minimum investment: who runs the scheme and the smallest amount accepted.

The historical background helps: SEBI split the old single offer document into two parts, the SID for scheme-specific detail and the Statement of Additional Information for fund-house-level detail. The consolidated rules now sit in SEBI's Master Circular for Mutual Funds.

How to read a Scheme Information Document

A SID runs long, but a few sections carry most of the weight. Read the investment objective and asset allocation first: they tell you what the scheme is actually allowed to hold, which matters more than the scheme's name. Check the riskometer and the benchmark next, then the expense and exit-load section, since costs are one of the few scheme features known in advance.

The SID names the same expense concept covered in total expense ratio, and it states the scheme's plan options, which is where the direct versus regular plan choice lives. For the monthly view of what the scheme currently holds, the SID points to the scheme's ongoing portfolio disclosure rather than carrying live holdings itself, which is where you can see which funds are buying a stock.

So, what is a Scheme Information Document in one line: the sourced, SEBI-filed reference for a single scheme, useful precisely because it is standardised and dated. Flock reads public filing data and keeps every figure stamped with its source and date. What any of it means for you is your call to make.