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Mutual Fund Folios at 26.13 Crore: What December 2025 Tells Us About Investor Mood
Mutual fund folios crossed 26.13 crore in December 2025, but the pace of growth is clearly slowing. Equity folio expansion is tapering, debt funds are staging a comeback, and passive funds—especially gold ETFs—are driving fresh investor interest. A closer look at the shifting trends shaping India’s mutual fund participation.
Written by: SERNET Research Team
Table of Content
Mutual Funds Add 26.40 Lakh Folios In December 2025
For the month of December 2025, folios addition at 26.40 Lakhs was almost at par with November, but sharply lower than October. For December 2025, mutual fund folio additions yoy stood at 3.63 Crore folios; across active debt, equity, hybrid, and passive funds. Folio addition has been slowing progressively in the last few months, and that can be attributed to a sense of boredom and caution at higher levels. In December 2025, out of the 26.40 Lakh folios added overall; 8.89 Lakh folios (33.7%) came from SIPs the balance 66.3% folio growth came from regular lumpsum flows.
MF Folios: Macro Picture For December 2025
Here is the macro picture of mutual fund folio growth for December 2025.
| Macro picture | Total Folios Dec-25 | Total Folios Dec-24 | Folio Growth |
| Open Ended Schemes | 26,07,64,703 | 22,44,70,051 | 16.17% |
| Closed-Ended Schemes | 4,89,133 | 5,33,494 | -8.32% |
| Total of all schemes | 26,12,53,836 | 22,50,03,545 | 16.11% |
Data Source: AMFI
At a macro level, the total number of mutual fund folios as of December 2025 stood at 26.13 Crore; compared to 25.86 Crore in November, 25.60 Crore in October, and 25.19 Crore in September 2025. Annual growth in total folios for December 2025 stood at 16.11%; compared to 17.12% in November, 18.25% in October, and 19.67% in September 2025. Folio growth is slackening due to investor boredom at higher levels. The clean-up exercise was also partially responsible for the slowing of growth in folios.
Active Debt Fund Folios: Impressive Comeback In Recent Months
Debt fund folio growth turned around in May 2025 after a long negative spell and has been getting progressively better. Debt fund folios for December 2025 grew 17.17%; compared to 15.59% in November, 10.23% in October, and 8.88% in September 2025. In December 2025, Long Duration Funds, Medium to Long Duration Funds, and floater funds saw folio contraction.
| Active Debt Funds | Total Folios Dec-25 | Total Folios Dec-24 | Folio Growth |
| Liquid Fund | 24,35,865 | 18,50,191 | 31.65% |
| Short Duration Fund | 5,61,636 | 4,42,755 | 26.85% |
| Money Market Fund | 5,24,338 | 4,29,600 | 22.05% |
| Ultra Short Duration Fund | 7,66,379 | 6,44,835 | 18.85% |
| Overnight Fund | 7,28,222 | 6,15,458 | 18.32% |
| Medium Duration Fund | 2,40,819 | 2,12,130 | 13.52% |
| Corporate Bond Fund | 5,80,979 | 5,29,188 | 9.79% |
| Credit Risk Fund | 1,94,207 | 1,84,077 | 5.50% |
| Gilt Fund 10Y duration | 37,606 | 35,849 | 4.90% |
| Dynamic Bond Fund | 2,32,827 | 2,23,158 | 4.33% |
| Low Duration Fund | 8,51,239 | 8,20,804 | 3.71% |
| Gilt Fund | 2,15,424 | 2,08,995 | 3.08% |
| Banking and PSU Fund | 2,39,818 | 2,37,444 | 1.00% |
| Floater Fund | 1,98,710 | 1,98,785 | -0.04% |
| Medium to Long Duration Fund | 1,02,111 | 1,02,398 | -0.28% |
| Long Duration Fund | 85,438 | 88,502 | -3.46% |
| Folios – Active Debt Funds | 79,95,618 | 68,24,169 | 17.17% |
Data Source: AMFI
Of the 16 categories of debt funds, 13 categories showed positive growth in folios, with 6 of these categories growing in double digits in December 2025 and 8 categories growing over 5%. The leaders in terms of folio growth were Liquid Funds at 31.65%, short duration funds 26.85%, money market funds at 22.05%, and Ultra Short Duration Funds 18.85%. Folio growth is concentrated at the short end of the yield curve due to expectations of robust returns at the short end. It could also be seen as lack of conviction at the long end of the curve.
Active Equity Funds Add 2.10 Crore Folios YoY
In December 2025, active equity funds added 2.10 Crore folios; compared to 2.35 Crore folios in November, 2.49 Crore in October, and 2.74 Crore in September 2025. Retail momentum is tapering at higher levels. Equity fund folio expansion in December 2025 fell to 15.23%; compared to 16.34% in November, 16.49% in October, and 18.59% in September 2025. Richly priced markets, and constant volatility are taking a toll on equity folio accretion.
| Active Equity Funds | Total Folios Dec-25 | Total Folios Dec-24 | Folio Growth |
| Flexi Cap Fund | 2,20,50,009 | 1,69,94,903 | 29.74% |
| Multi Cap Fund | 1,11,73,881 | 88,58,996 | 26.13% |
| Mid Cap Fund | 2,39,87,318 | 1,97,29,172 | 21.58% |
| Large & Mid Cap Fund | 1,32,97,987 | 1,13,29,719 | 17.37% |
| Small Cap Fund | 2,73,35,457 | 2,40,35,920 | 13.73% |
| Value Fund/Contra Fund | 88,57,029 | 79,99,203 | 10.72% |
| Large Cap Fund | 1,68,70,064 | 1,55,29,618 | 8.63% |
| Sectoral/Thematic Funds | 3,17,47,483 | 2,98,48,837 | 6.36% |
| Focused Fund | 54,15,223 | 51,59,573 | 4.95% |
| Dividend Yield Fund | 11,85,004 | 11,71,677 | 1.14% |
| ELSS | 1,65,56,812 | 1,68,39,209 | -1.68% |
| Folios – Active Equity Funds | 17,84,76,267 | 15,74,96,827 | 13.32% |
Data Source: AMFI
In December 2025, total of 10 out of 11 active equity fund categories saw folio accretion; even as ELSS folios contracted. The big boost to folio accretion came from flexi-cap funds 29.74%, multi-cap funds 26.13%, and mid-cap funds 21.58%. A total of 3 of 11 equity fund categories saw folio accretion of over 20%. There is a shift from alpha hunting to allocation.
Hybrid Funds – Folios Trend Favours Allocation
All the 8 Hybrid and solution funds showed yoy growth in folios; although only 4 out of 8 hybrid fund categories grew double-digit in December 2025.
| Hybrid / Solution Funds | Total Folios Dec-25 | Total Folios Dec-24 | Folio Growth |
| Multi Asset Allocation Fund | 42,49,832 | 28,46,417 | 49.30% |
| Arbitrage Fund | 7,41,825 | 5,73,073 | 29.45% |
| Equity Savings Fund | 5,25,857 | 4,70,610 | 11.74% |
| Dynamic Asset Allocation/BAF | 55,95,687 | 50,55,258 | 10.69% |
| Aggressive Hybrid Fund | 61,34,634 | 57,06,104 | 7.51% |
| Conservative Hybrid Fund | 5,75,909 | 5,46,180 | 5.44% |
| Children’s Fund | 31,91,201 | 30,49,707 | 4.64% |
| Retirement Fund | 30,42,915 | 29,82,418 | 2.03% |
| Folios – Hybrid Allocation Funds | 2,40,57,860 | 2,12,29,767 | 13.32% |
Data Source: AMFI
The 8 hybrid funds added 28.28 Lakh folios in last 1 year; with asset allocation the big theme. The best folio growth was visible in multi asset allocation funds (MAAF) at 49.30%, followed by Arbitrage funds at 29.45%, Equity Savings Funds at 11.74%, and Balanced Advantage Funds (BAFs) at 10.69%. Asset allocation is emerging as the big hybrid theme with a bias towards multi-assets. In December 2025, hybrid fund folios grew 13.32%; compared to 12.51% in November, 12.13% in October, and 12.29% in September 2025.
Passive Funds Added 113.16 Lakh Folios YoY
Passive funds have seen a revival of interest in last 3 months and the surge is evident in December too; thanks to gold and silver ETFs.
| Passive Funds | Total Folios Dec-25 | Total Folios Dec-24 | Folio Growth |
| GOLD ETF | 1,02,25,561 | 64,05,088 | 59.65% |
| Other ETFs | 2,39,69,652 | 1,85,96,766 | 28.89% |
| FOFs investing overseas | 16,38,654 | 13,71,852 | 19.45% |
| Index Funds | 1,44,01,091 | 1,25,45,582 | 14.79% |
| Folios – Passive Funds | 5,02,34,958 | 3,89,19,288 | 29.07% |
Data Source: AMFI
Gold ETFs again dominated folio growth at 59.65%, followed by Index ETFs at 28.89%, and FOFs Investing Overseas at 19.45% in December 2025. Passive fund folio growth in December 2025 stood at 29.07%; compared to 27.90% in November, 30.82% in October, and 31.14% in September 2025. Growth in passive folios is still very robust. However, it remains to be seen if the folios growth will continue to be driven by gold and silver ETFs or it would broaden. The massive rally in gold and silver has resulted in a sharp demand for gold and silver ETFs, adding to the allure of passive investing!
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