In September 2025, open-ended mutual funds saw net outflows of ₹ (42,816) Crore across categories. Here is a quick look at the key flow narratives.

1. Debt funds saw net outflows of ₹ (1,01,977) Crore largely dominated by redemptions in liquid funds and money market funds to meet advance tax payouts.
2. Equity Fund inflows at ₹30,422 Crore were focused on flexi-cap, mid-caps, and small caps in that order; a clear sign of allocation and alpha hunting.
3. Hybrid funds saw net inflows of ₹9,683 Crore, while passive funds also saw robust inflows of ₹19,057 Crore for the month of September 2025.
4. Like in August, NFO flows in September tapered to ₹1,959 Crore, but gross SIP flows in September 2025 touched a new all-time record at ₹29,361 Crore. 

Let us turn to flow significance as a share of net AUM. 

When it comes to mutual fund flows; two things matter. The size of the flows and whether the swing flows were on the positive or negative side? Here is a quick macro picture.
 

Data Source: AMFI 

The overall significance of flows as a percentage of the net AUM is around -0.57%, which is largely skewed by the outflows from debt funds. What is more relevant in this case is whether the top fund categories in terms of Flow/AUM significance are on the positive side or on the negative side. For the month, positive traction was all about passive funds.
 

In the case of debt funds in August 2025, out of the 16 fund categories, 7 categories saw net inflows while 9 categories saw net outflows. In terms of the five most significant flow categories, two were on the positive side while three were on the negative side. 

 Data Source: AMFI 

As can be seen in the above table, 4 out of the 5 most significant flows as share of AUM were on the negative side. On the positive side, only overnight funds were significant. The action this month has been largely on the short end of the yield curve, with the longer end largely silent. The overall net outflows seen by debt funds in September 2025 were deeply impacted by the outflows from these short tenure funds to pay advance taxes in Q2. 

In the case of equity funds in September 2025, out of the 11 fund categories, 9 categories saw net inflows while only 2 categories saw net outflows (dividend yield funds and ELSS). In terms of the 5 most significant flow categories, all were in the positive. 

 Data Source: AMFI 

If you look at the five categories of equity funds with the most significant flow to AUM ratio, there are 2 themes that emerge. Firstly,  this theme is about alpha hunting which shows significant interest in mid-cap and small cap stocks. The second theme is diversification through cross allocation; which is evident in the investor interest in multi-cap funds, flexi-cap funds, and large & mid-cap funds. It is allocation that is dominant this month. It is a good sign, that investors are going beyond just chasing Beta or Alpha. 

In the case of hybrid funds in September 2025, 6 out of the 8 fund categories saw net inflows. Overall flows petered compared to the previous month due to outflows from Arbitrage Funds. In terms of the 5 most significant flow categories, all were in positive.  

 Data Source: AMFI 

If you look at the five categories of equity funds with the most significant flow to AUM ratio, the broad theme is of asset allocation and risk management. That explains the dominance of funds like equity savings, multi-asset allocation funds and BAFs in the list. Arbitrage funds saw outflows this month, but that was more to meet corporate advance tax liquidity needs. 

In the case of hybrid allocation funds in August 2025, out of the 4 fund categories, all of them saw net inflows. In terms of the most significant flow categories, here is the list.  

Data Source: AMFI 

If you look at the top categories in terms of significance of flow / AUM ratio, gold funds at the top are not a surprise. The positive surprise is about FOFs investing overseas, where inflows have been significant. In index funds and index ETFs, the ratio is low, more due to the expanded base. 

Active and passive equity flows continue to be positive, even as debt fund outflows in September 2025 were more due to the impact of advance tax payouts in the quarter.