All Weather Investing With Sips And Multi Asset Funds

As we near the end of 2025, we see that it was a year marked with uncertainty - whether on the climate front or on the investment climate front. Indian summers saw record-breaking heat, while the monsoons arrived early and brought intense, erratic rains. Similarly, equity markets saw ups and downs with higher US tariffs, geopolitical flare-ups, stretched market valuations, slowing earnings and persistent foreign investment outflows influencing stock prices. At the same time, gold surprised investors with a remarkable rally.

In such periods of unpredictability, whether driven by intensifying climate change or by economic and geopolitical fragmentation reshaping the global order, risk management becomes as important, if not more, as output maximisation or return generation. That’s where all-weather solutions, designed to perform reliably across a wide range of conditions, come in: all-weather clothing that can be worn through weather changes reduces the chances of being caught unprepared, all-weather crops that can withstand erratic climate patterns and limit farmer losses, all-weather investment portfolios that help investors navigate market volatility with greater resilience and all-weather investment approaches like Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) that enable disciplined investments through market ups and downs.

As we prepare to step into 2026, the market uncertainty prevails. While stock market valuations have cooled off after a year of time correction, they remain above long-term averages. India is facing higher tariffs in its largest export market, and an India-US trade deal is yet to be finalised. Technological disruptions and ongoing geopolitical tensions are also weighing on markets. Domestic pressures on corporate earnings and growth may ease as lower inflation, lower taxes and lower interest rates support consumption. Yet global risk-off sentiment and elevated valuations continue to keep foreign investors cautious, even as domestic institutional flows remain resilient.

Given this backdrop, an investment strategy that diversifies across multiple asset classes - such as a Multi Asset Fund - can serve as an effective all-weather investment where bonds and gold help balance out the volatility in equities. What makes a Multi Asset Fund “all-weather” is its mix of uncorrelated or low-correlation asset classes like equities, bonds and gold. The multiple asset classes respond differently to different economic conditions - with equities doing well in high-growth environments, bonds rewarding investors during easing monetary conditions, and gold generally outperforms in times of economic stress or geopolitical tensions - limiting portfolio downside and resulting in smoother portfolio performance across economic environments as weakness in one asset class is offset by strength in another.

Investments in Multi Asset Funds can be done through a long-term SIP, where a fixed amount is debited from the investor’s bank account on pre-determined dates and channelled into the fund. Systematic investments in Multi Asset Funds can be a hands-free way to build steady, long-term wealth, as the investor automatically saves and invests towards their financial goals in a regular manner instead of relying on self-discipline to save, or constant market monitoring to invest. The investor doesn’t have to worry about timing the market either, as SIPs average out the cost of purchase over time by buying more mutual fund units when the market is cheap and fewer units when the market is expensive.

As 2026 unfolds, staying diversified through Multi Asset Funds and staying disciplined through SIPs may thus be the most reliable “all-weather” strategy of all.

Disclaimer: The Views are Personal and not a part of the Outlook Money Editorial Feature