In October 2025, open-ended mutual funds saw net inflows of ₹2,15,734 Crore across categories. Here is a quick look at the key flow narratives.

1. Debt funds saw net inflows of ₹1,59,958 Crore largely dominated by inflows at the short end of the yield curve into liquid funds, overnight funds, and money market funds.
2. Equity Fund inflows were lower at ₹24,690 Crore. Flows were led by Flexi Cap Funds, Multi-Cap Funds, Large & Mid-Cap Funds, Small Cap funds, and Mid-Cap Funds 
3. Hybrid funds saw net inflows of ₹14,417 Crore, while passive funds also saw robust inflows of ₹16,668 Crore for the month of October 2025.
4. The NFO flows picked up momentum in October 2025 at ₹6,062 Crore, while gross SIP flows in October 2025 touched a new all-time record at ₹29,529 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.

Fund Category 

Data Source: AMFI 

In debt funds, key flows were all on the positive side. The overall significance of flows as a percentage of the net AUM was around 2.71%, which is clearly favoring inflows into debt flows in the month. 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 debt funds, followed by hybrids and passives.
 

In the case of debt funds in October 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, the most significant flows as share of AUM were all on the positive side. On the positive side, overnight funds, liquid funds, and ultra short duration funds displayed significant flows as a share of their AUM. The overall net outflows seen by debt funds in October 2025 were sharply impacted by the funds return to be parked after the tax-related withdrawals in the previous month. 

In the case of equity funds in October 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. The top-3 funds are about allocation and diversification, where the investors are trying to reduce risk and enhance risk-adjusted returns. The fourth and fifth are where investors take the higher stock-specific risk of small cap and mid-cap stocks. In the second case, the intent is to generate alpha at a time when the traditional large caps are struggling to beat the indices. However, volume of flows has been falling steadily in the last 2 months. This is largely due to uncertainty at higher index levels. 

In the case of hybrid funds in October 2025, all the 8 fund categories saw net inflows. Fund flows were better than September for hybrids, as arbitrage funds were back at play. Obviously, 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 multi-asset allocation funds, balanced hybrid, and equity savings in the list. After the pressure of advance taxes have been completed, arbitrage funds are back into inflows. 

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. FOFs are in second place, more due to a low base compared to index ETFs and index funds. In index funds and index ETFs, the ratio is low, more due to the expanded base, although the flows are still attractive. 

Active and passive equity flows continue to be positive in October 2025. Of course, during the month, debt fund flows offered the swing factor to mutual fund flows.