Mutual Funds folio accretion picks up to 26.65 lakhs in August 2026

Mutual Funds folio accretion picks up to 26.65 lakhs in August 2026

FOLIO ACCRETION IMPROVES FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT MONTH

Open-ended funds added 26.65 lakh folios in August 2026; compared to 22.69 lakh folios in July, and 20.40 lakh folios in June 2026. Folio accretion improved for the fourth straight month, but it is still way below the 50-lakh mark achieved in January 2026. While the slowing in folio accretion can be attributed to uncertainty in markets, recent months are showing that investors are not giving up on SIPs. There is also a possibility that investors are shifting from direct equities and F&O into MFs via SIPs, which is a good trend.

Effective August 2026, AMFI has changed the way of reporting monthly mutual fund flows by making the report more granular and widening the gamut. Hence, the data points may not be fully comparable with the previous month. This month, we have focused on AUM per folios as a measure of retail intensity. Normally, hither the AUM per folios, lesser is the retail intensity and vice versa. Here is a tabulation of the results category-wise.

ACTIVE DEBT FUND FOLIOS: STILL A LARGELY INSTITUTIONAL PRODUCT

For the month of August 2026, active debt funds added a total of 3.15 lakh folios or 3.40% over the previous month. Here are the 5 most significant categories on AUM per folio.

For the month of August 2026, the AUM per folio ranged from ₹63.11 lakhs for sectoral debt funds to ₹9.91 lakhs for Medium to Long term Funds. While sector funds, money market funds, and banking & PSU funds had the highest AUM per folio; the categories with the lowest AUM per folio were Medium Term Funds, Credit Risk Funds, and Medium to Long Term Funds. The debt fund category remain a largely institutional and HNI product as of date.

EQUITY FUND FOLIOS – HIGH RETAIL INTENSITY IN HIGHER RISK PRODUCTS

For the month of August 2026, active equity funds added a total of 19.28 lakh folios or 1.03% growth over the previous month. Here are the Top-5 by AUM per folio for the month.

For the month of August 2026, the AUM per folio ranged from ₹3.36 lakhs for Focused Funds to ₹1.52 lakhs for ELSS – Tax Saving Funds. While focused funds, value funds, and dividend yield funds had the highest AUM per folio; the categories with the lowest AUM per folio were Sectoral Funds, Small Cap Funds, and ELSS Funds. In the equity category, the retail intensity appears to be increasing as you go higher up the risk curve.

HYBRID FUNDS – RETAIL INVESTORS SHIFTING TO SOLUTION FUNDS

For the month of August 2026, hybrid allocation funds added a total of 3.09 lakh folios or 1.17% over the previous month. Here are the Top-5 in terms of AUM per folio for the month.

For the month of August 2026, the AUM per folio ranged from ₹32.26 lakhs for Arbitrage Funds to ₹0.27 lakhs for Life Cycle Funds. While Arbitrage Funds, Equity Savings Funds, and BAFs had the highest AUM per folio; the categories with the lowest AUM per folio were solution funds and life cycle funds. While the data points are still too few, one trend seems to be that the lifecycle and solution funds are gravitating to become retail financial planning products.

PASSIVE FUNDS SHOW RETAIL PREFERENCE FOR PRECIOUS METALS

For the month of August 2026, passive funds saw accretion of 1.13 lakh folios or 0.20% over the previous month. Here are the Top-5 categories based on AUM per folio.

For the month of August 2026, the AUM per folio ranged from ₹43.36 lakhs for Debt Index Funds to ₹0.73 lakhs for Hybrid Index Funds. While Debt Index Funds, Debt Index ETFs, and Equity Index ETFs had the highest AUM per folio; the categories with the lowest AUM per folio were Gold ETFs, ETFs investing overseas and Hybrid Index Funds. This does show a trend of retail investors gravitating towards precious metals and equities, which is logical. However, strong retail interest in global ETFs show that investors are trying to diversify internationally.

Folios continue to grow at a steady pace, although categories like passive funds and active equity funds are seeing a gradual saturation in folio growth.