MF Folios Hit 25.19 Crore in Sept. 2025 | Retail Participation Rising
India’s mutual fund folios saw steady MoM growth in September 2025, touching 25.19 crore. Passive and hybrid funds led the surge, showing strong retail confidence and rising appetite for diversification.
Why We Look At MoM Folio Growth?
Unlike the AUM, the folios are not vulnerable to market price movements. Hence, they reflect retail appetite for mutual funds a lot better. Remember, folios are not unique investors; that is captured by unique PAN, which is about one-fourth of the total folios. However, folios give us good short-term and long-term trends of where the retail appetite is shifting. The idea of MOM folio shift here is to understand how short-term appetite is shifting for mutual funds.
Macro Picture – How Folios Grew Across The Board
Here is a quick macro picture of how folios have grown across broad categories of funds
| Fund Category | Folios (Sep-25) | Folios (Aug-25) | Folios Growth (MOM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt Funds | 76,48,344 | 76,06,419 | 0.55% |
| Equity Funds | 17,46,21,669 | 17,32,31,188 | 0.80% |
| Hybrid Funds | 2,31,77,999 | 2,29,14,879 | 1.15% |
| Passive Funds | 4,59,77,102 | 4,46,55,224 | 2.96% |
| Open Ended Funds | 25,14,25,114 | 24,84,07,710 | 1.21% |
| Close-Ended Funds | 4,98,048 | 5,01,714 | -0.73% |
| Grand Total Folios | 25,19,23,162 | 24,89,09,424 | 1.21% |
Data Source: AMFI
Clearly, the overall growth in mutual fund folios has been driven by open ended funds; with close-ended funds seeing folio depletion as usual. Within the fund categories, the passive funds showed the best traction in MOM folio accretion, followed by hybrid funds and active equity funds, in that order. Forget the flows this captures the short-term flow trend.**
How Debt Funds Grew Folios In September 2025
Here is a quick look at how debt fund folios moved between August and September 2025.
| Debt Funds | Folios (Sep-25) | Folios (Aug-25) | Folios Growth (MOM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid Fund | 21,75,269 | 21,31,349 | 2.06% |
| Short Duration Fund | 5,25,052 | 5,17,942 | 1.37% |
| Credit Risk Fund | 1,88,983 | 1,86,961 | 1.08% |
| Medium Duration Fund | 2,34,720 | 2,33,423 | 0.56% |
| Corporate Bond Fund | 5,67,992 | 5,65,827 | 0.38% |
Data Source: AMFI
The momentum of folios growth is visible largely at the short end of the duration curve, which shows a rising interest among retail and HNI investors to park funds in debt-oriented short-term funds. The action is also due to the quarterly advance tax payout. Overall, MOM folio growth for debt funds segment was at 0.55%.
How Equity Funds Grew Folios In September 2025
Here is how the equity fund folios moved between August and September 2025.
| Equity Funds | Folios (Sep-25) | Folios (Aug-25) | Folios Growth (MOM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value Fund/Contra Fund | 87,85,142 | 86,12,986 | 2.00% |
| Multi Cap Fund | 1,07,86,468 | 1,05,82,438 | 1.93% |
| Flexi Cap Fund | 2,02,06,005 | 1,98,38,017 | 1.85% |
| Mid Cap Fund | 2,33,43,247 | 2,30,00,768 | 1.49% |
| Large & Mid Cap Fund | 1,28,53,471 | 1,26,91,674 | 1.27% |
Data Source: AMFI
Interestingly, the fund categories that got the best flows, are also the ones seeing the best folio growth MOM. The real folio accretion is happening in the allocation via diversification funds, with some genuine interest in mid-caps as a source of alpha hunting.
How Hybrid Allocation Funds Grew Folios In September 2025
Here is how the hybrid fund folios moved between August and September 2025.
| Hybrid Funds | Folios (Sep-25) | Folios (Aug-25) | Folios Growth (MOM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi Asset Allocation Fund | 37,04,172 | 35,60,534 | 4.03% |
| Arbitrage Fund | 6,93,596 | 6,81,565 | 1.77% |
| Equity Savings Fund | 5,15,464 | 5,10,097 | 1.05% |
| Aggressive Hybrid Fund | 60,11,535 | 59,64,898 | 0.78% |
| Dynamic Asset Allocation/BAF | 55,09,198 | 54,74,637 | 0.63% |
Data Source: AMFI
Hybrid funds seeing the best folio growth in September 2025 were the strategic asset allocation funds. The one exception is arbitrage funds, which is more an alternative to liquid funds. However, the real theme appears to be allocation across asset classes for best risk-adjusted returns. That appears to be the theme in currency in hybrid funds.
How Passive Funds Grew Folios In September 2025
Here is a look at how passive fund folios moved between August 2025 and September 2025.
| Passive Funds | Folios (Sep-25) | Folios (Aug-25) | Folios Growth (MOM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GOLD ETF | 86,63,662 | 80,33,855 | 7.84% |
| FOFs investing overseas | 14,83,745 | 14,15,559 | 4.82% |
| Other ETFs | 2,17,40,194 | 2,12,52,597 | 2.29% |
| Index Funds | 1,40,89,501 | 1,39,53,213 | 0.98% |
Data Source: AMFI
As a category, passive funds saw a sharp revival with the best folio growth MOM for the second month in a row. Gold funds led the passive folio growth, which is not surprising considering that gold is at an all-time high level. Interestingly, folios of FOFs investing overseas are also catching up, albeit on a small base.
Two themes have emerged from September. Firstly, passive funds are back in currency on the retail popularity chart. Secondly, across active equity and hybrid; the focus appears to be shifting towards smart asset allocation. That is a positive move!
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