In the last few months, the share of incremental SIP folios as a percentage of overall incremental folios has been falling. That means retail investors are opting more for lumpsum investing rather than for SIP investing. That is logical in a volatile market, as timing (if done properly) can yield better returns. If one looks at October 2025, the incremental SIP folios were 60% of the overall incremental folios.  In November, that share has fallen to 54%. That could be a one-off outcome, but the SIP share appears to have stagnated for quite some time now. More retail investors want to time the market. 

One of the popular measures of SIP efficiency is the SIP stoppage ratio. It measures the ratio of total SIPs stopped in a month to the fresh SIPs commenced. SIPs can be stopped; either because you decide to stop or just forget to renew. In the past, SIP stoppage ratio would be around 45%-50% in any month, except for the pandemic period when it had crossed 60%. However, post the clean-up of inactive SIP folios; which was completed in April 2025, the SIP stoppage ratio has been consistently above 75%; and has averaged above 75% in the last 7 months since May 2025. That means; the new normal of SIP stoppage is now higher than the pandemic peaks; which is not a good signal. 

For many investors, SIPs appear to be boring. There is limited excitement as you invest the same amount in a fund irrespective of whether the market is up or down. More adventurous retail investors want to tweak the model wherein they buy more units when the market is down and buy fewer units when the market is up. Their logic is that the Indian markets are in a longer-term bull rally and hence by timing the tops and bottoms with some degree of precision, they can earn better returns. While this retail argument looks optically appealing, they may be missing the wood for the trees. In trying to time markets, they may be losing out on the power of persistence in investing. 

If retail investors believe that they can better their long-term wealth by timing the market; they could be well living in a fool’s paradise. Here is why. Over the long term, timing makes little difference to your wealth. On the other hand, if you miss out even a few crests and troughs, your returns can be sharply lower than a plain-vanilla SIP. Secondly, SIPs are meant to help individuals meet their long-term financial goals. Tampering with the SIP through market timing can hamper your long-term goals. All that retail investors need to do is set up a SIP, monitor it regularly, and seek help from a financial advisor. The markets will take care of the rest. Timing is a waste of time!