In December 2025, open-ended mutual funds saw net outflows of ₹ (66,532) Crore across categories. Here is a quick look at the key flow narratives.

1. Debt funds saw net outflows of ₹(1,32,410) Crore dominated by outflows at the short end of the yield curve; mainly money market funds and liquid funds.
2. Equity Fund inflows were sedate at ₹28,054 Crore. Flows were led by Flexi Cap Funds, Mid-Cap Funds, Large & Mid-Cap Funds, and Small Cap funds. 
3. Hybrid funds saw net inflows of ₹11,101 Crore, while passive funds a spike in inflows to ₹26,723 Crore for the month of December 2025, led by Gold Funds.
4. The NFO slackened in December 2025 at ₹4,074 Crore, while gross SIP flows in December 2025 touched a new all-time record at ₹31,002 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 

In debt funds, swing flows were strongly on the negative side. The overall significance of flows as a percentage of the net AUM was around -0.83%, which does not talk about the depth of selling. What is more relevant in this case is that the top fund categories in terms of Flow/AUM significance are all on the negative side. For the month, positive traction was about Passive funds, Passive funds, and Equity funds; in that order. However, this was more  than offset by the negative flow significance of debt funds.
 

In the case of debt funds in December 2025, out of the 16 fund categories, 14 categories saw net outflows while only 2 categories saw net inflows. In terms of the five most significant flow categories, all the five categories as below, 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 negative side (ultra short duration funds, money market funds, and liquid funds). In fact, 4 out of 5 categories were funds at the short end of the yield curve. There were only two categories of funds with positive flows viz. floater funds and overnight funds. On an overall basis, debt funds saw net outflows, but the figure was largely skewed by liquid funds, money market funds, ultra short duration funds, and low duration funds. 

In the case of equity funds in December 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 5 categories of equity funds with the most significant flow to AUM ratio, all are on the positive side. However, 2 themes clearly emerge from the analysis. Flexi cap funds, large & mid-cap funds, and multi-cap funds are about allocation and diversification, with investors trying to optimize risk-adjusted returns. On the other hand, Small Cap Funds and Mid-Cap Funds are about generating alpha at a time when the traditional large caps are struggling to beat the indices. However, flow volumes in various equity fund categories have been waning, although the hit is more acute on sector funds, thematic funds, and large caps. 

In the case of hybrid funds in December 2025; out of the 8 hybrid categories, 7 saw positive flows with only Conservative Hybrid Funds seeing net outflows. Fund flows into hybrids have stayed robust. The 5 most significant flow categories, saw 4 in positive, and 1 in negative.  

 Data Source: AMFI 

If you look at the five categories of equity funds with the most significant flow to AUM ratio, the broad theme in 3 out of 5  cases is about strategic asset allocation and risk management. However, withing the top-3, a more granular theme of multi-asset allocation is now being built through multi-asset allocation funds (MAAF), although this could be largely attributed to the outstanding performance of gold and silver ETFs. Equity Savings Funds and Children’s Funds in the list are more about allocation across discrete asset classes. BAFs are still attracting the flows, but significance as a share of total AUM is dropping. 

In the case of hybrid allocation funds in December 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, by a huge margin, is hardly a surprise. Index ETFs are also material as flows are on a massive base. FOFs have continued to attract positive flows, although the base is small. 

Interestingly, in December also, the most significant flow/AUM ratio belongs to specific asset classes like gold ETFs and silver ETFs; so precious metals continue to rule. 

What is the big picture. Active and passive equity flows continue to be positive in December 2025; although debt flows have been in the negative. However, the big takeaways are the flows are a lot more significant on the positive side in the passive and hybrid categories, although this could be largely influenced by the rally in gold and silver!