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MF Folios at 26.63 Crore: Gold ETFs, Debt & Multi-Asset Funds Lead January Surge
India’s mutual fund industry scaled 26.63 crore folios in January 2026, adding 50 lakh in a single month. While equity folio growth is slowing amid volatility, passive funds—especially Gold ETFs—and multi-asset allocation funds are driving strong momentum. Debt funds are also seeing a revival at the shorter end of the yield curve. Here’s a deep dive into category-wise folio trends and what it signals for investor behavior in 2026.
Written by: SERNET Research Team
Table of Content
Mutual Funds Add 50 Lakh Folios In Janury 2026
For the month of January 2026, folios addition at 50 Lakhs was almost equal to November and December combined. For January 2026, mutual fund folio additions yoy stood at 3.71 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 caution at higher levels.
Mf Folios: Macro Picture For January 2026
Here is the macro picture of mutual fund folio growth for January 2026.
| Macro picture | Total Folios JAN-26 | Total Folios JAN-25 | Folio Growth |
| Open Ended Schemes | 26,58,26,040 | 22,86,68,244 | 16.25% |
| Closed-Ended Schemes | 4,87,521 | 5,31,133 | -8.21% |
| Total of all schemes | 26,63,13,561 | 22,91,99,377 | 16.19% |
Data Source: AMFI
At a macro level, the total number of mutual fund folios as of January 2026 stood at 26.63 Crore. Annual growth in total folios for January 2026 stood at 16.19%; compared to 16.11% in December, 17.12% in November, and 18.25% in October 2025. Folio growth is slackening due to investor boredom at higher levels, although it has marginally picked up in the latest month, largely on account of a surge in demand for Gold ETFs and Silver ETFs.
Active Debt Fund Folios: Visible Heft In Folio Growth
Debt fund folio growth turned around in May 2025 after a long negative spell and has been getting progressively better. Debt fund folios for January 2026 grew 17.75%; compared to 17.17% in December, 15.59% in November, and 10.23% in October 2025. In January 2026, Long Duration Funds, Medium to Long Duration Funds, and Gilt funds saw folio contraction.
| Active Debt Funds | Total Folios JAN-26 | Total Folios JAN-25 | Folio Growth |
| Liquid Fund | 25,14,436 | 18,59,454 | 35.22% |
| Short Duration Fund | 5,63,688 | 4,45,014 | 26.67% |
| Money Market Fund | 5,23,717 | 4,31,072 | 21.49% |
| Ultra Short Duration Fund | 7,68,654 | 6,47,113 | 18.78% |
| Overnight Fund | 7,34,569 | 6,30,458 | 16.51% |
| Medium Duration Fund | 2,40,538 | 2,10,503 | 14.27% |
| Corporate Bond Fund | 5,77,039 | 5,30,127 | 8.85% |
| Credit Risk Fund | 1,96,410 | 1,82,448 | 7.65% |
| Gilt Funds 10Y Duration | 37,098 | 35,624 | 4.14% |
| Low Duration Fund | 8,47,633 | 8,17,516 | 3.68% |
| Dynamic Bond Fund | 2,29,369 | 2,23,226 | 2.75% |
| Banking and PSU Fund | 2,39,116 | 2,36,157 | 1.25% |
| Floater Fund | 1,97,564 | 1,96,582 | 0.50% |
| Gilt Fund | 2,11,129 | 2,12,095 | -0.46% |
| Medium to Long Duration Fund | 1,01,359 | 1,02,194 | -0.82% |
| Long Duration Fund | 82,999 | 89,737 | -7.51% |
| Folios – Active Debt Funds | 80,65,318 | 68,49,320 | 17.75% |
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 January 2026 and 8 categories growing over 5%. The leaders in terms of folio growth were Liquid Funds at 35.22%, short duration funds 26.67%, money market funds at 21.49%, and Ultra Short Duration Funds 18.78%. Folio growth is concentrated at the short end of the yield curve due to expectations of robust returns at the short end. This was largely due to the liquidity shortfall in the previous few months.
Active Equity Funds Add 1.90 Crore Folios YoY
In January 2026, active equity funds added 1.90 Crore folios; compared to 2.10 Crore folios in December, 2.35 Crore folios in November, and 2.49 Crore in October 2025. Retail momentum is tapering at higher levels. Equity fund folio expansion in January 2026 fell to 11.81%; compared to 15.23% in December, 16.34% in November, and 16.49% in October 2025. Richly priced markets, and intense volatility are taking a toll on equity folio accretion.
| Active Equity Funds | Total Folios JAN-26 | Total Folios JAN-25 | Folio Growth |
| Flexi Cap Fund | 2,25,15,391 | 1,73,30,407 | 29.92% |
| Multi Cap Fund | 1,12,72,944 | 91,23,745 | 23.56% |
| Mid Cap Fund | 2,41,68,250 | 2,04,60,332 | 18.12% |
| Large & Mid Cap Fund | 1,34,34,952 | 1,15,61,541 | 16.20% |
| Small Cap Fund | 2,74,71,864 | 2,45,88,422 | 11.73% |
| Value Fund/Contra Fund | 88,85,986 | 81,06,495 | 9.62% |
| Large Cap Fund | 1,69,49,451 | 1,57,23,013 | 7.80% |
| Focused Fund | 54,50,285 | 51,79,012 | 5.24% |
| Sectoral/Thematic Funds | 3,16,81,759 | 3,03,71,441 | 4.31% |
| Dividend Yield Fund | 12,02,510 | 11,84,976 | 1.48% |
| ELSS | 1,65,01,822 | 1,69,45,224 | -2.62% |
| Folios – Active Equity Funds | 17,95,35,214 | 16,05,74,608 | 11.81% |
Data Source: AMFI
In January 2026, total of 10 out of 11 active equity fund categories saw folio accretion; even as ELSS folios contracted due to NTR. The big boost to folio accretion came from flexi-cap funds 29.92%, multi-cap funds 23.56%, and mid-cap funds 18.12%. Only 2 of 11 equity fund categories saw folio accretion of over 20%. There is a shift from alpha hunting to allocation.
Hybrid Funds – Folios Hint At Multi-asset 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 January 2026.
| Hybrid / Solution Funds | Total Folios JAN-26 | Total Folios JAN-25 | Folio Growth |
| Multi Asset Allocation Fund | 45,92,478 | 29,04,933 | 58.09% |
| Arbitrage Fund | 7,62,151 | 5,81,194 | 31.14% |
| Equity Savings Fund | 5,28,385 | 4,75,190 | 11.19% |
| Dynamic Asset Allocation/BAF | 56,24,351 | 50,90,495 | 10.49% |
| Aggressive Hybrid Fund | 61,77,349 | 57,34,895 | 7.72% |
| Conservative Hybrid Fund | 5,76,220 | 5,46,784 | 5.38% |
| Children’s Fund | 32,12,128 | 30,59,797 | 4.98% |
| Retirement Fund | 30,49,871 | 29,88,765 | 2.04% |
| Folios – Hybrid Allocation Funds | 2,45,22,933 | 2,13,82,053 | 14.69% |
Data Source: AMFI
The 8 hybrid funds added 31.41 Lakh folios in last 1 year; with multi-asset allocation the big theme. The best folio growth was visible in multi asset allocation funds (MAAF) at 58.09%, followed by Arbitrage funds at 31.14%, Equity Savings Funds at 11.19%, and Balanced Advantage Funds (BAFs) at 10.49%. Asset allocation is emerging as the big hybrid theme with a bias towards multi-assets (especially gold/silver). In January 2026, hybrid fund folios grew 14.69%; compared to 13.32% in December, 12.51% in November, and 12.13% in October 2025.
Passive Funds Added 138.40 Lakh Folios YoY
Passive funds have seen a very sharp revival of interest in last 3 months and the surge is thanks to gold and silver ETFs.
| Passive Funds | Total Folios JAN-26 | Total Folios JAN-25 | Folio Growth |
| GOLD ETF | 1,14,37,218 | 64,97,498 | 76.02% |
| Other ETFs | 2,60,57,440 | 1,92,31,856 | 35.49% |
| FOFs investing overseas | 16,82,977 | 13,71,445 | 22.72% |
| Index Funds | 1,45,24,940 | 1,27,61,464 | 13.82% |
| Folios – Passive Funds | 5,37,02,575 | 3,98,62,263 | 34.72% |
Data Source: AMFI
For the third month in a row; Gold ETFs dominated folio growth at 76.02%, followed by Index ETFs at 35.49%, and FOFs Investing Overseas at 22.72% in January 2026. Passive fund folio growth in January 2026 stood at an impressive 34.72%; compared to 29.07% in December, 27.90% in November, and 30.82% in October 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 surge in demand for gold and silver ETFs, adding to the allure of passive investing! However, other FOFs have also participated in this folio surge!
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