Mutual Fund Folios Hit 27 Crore in Feb 2026: Passive Funds Surge

MUTUAL FUNDS ADD 3.83 CRORE FOLIOS IN LAST ONE YEAR

For the month of February 2026, the total mutual fund folios crossed the 27-crore mark for the first time. If you compare the folio addition across categories, then the absolute folio additions were led by active equity funds at 188.25 lakhs, followed by passive funds at 147.96 lakhs, hybrid funds at 34.10 lakhs and active debt funds at 13.01 lakhs.

Let us turn to the percentage growth in folios on a yoy basis. The overall growth in folios of open-ended funds was 16.54%. The best percentage growth in folios was seen in passive funds at 36.15%, followed by debt funds at 18.88%, hybrid funds at 15.81%, and active equity funds at 11.59%.

MF FOLIOS: MACRO PICTURE FOR FEBRUARY 2026

Here is the macro picture of mutual fund folio growth for February 2026.

Data Source: AMFI

In the month of February 2026, mutual funds added a total of 42.58 lakh folios, with bulk of the folio additions happening in the passive funds and the active equity funds. Folios matter because they represent the retail spread of the mutual fund. Unlike the AUM, which can be concentrated, folios give a better picture of the retail intensity of the mutual fund growth. Today, there are about 27.05 crore mutual fund folios in India. However, the unique investors as measured by PAN are about 6 crore investors only.

ACTIVE DEBT FUND FOLIOS: DRIVING FOLIO GROWTH

In recent months, it is active debt funds that have driven the growth in folios on a yoy basis. Even as of February 2026, the yearly folio growth has been robust at 18.88%.

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 February 2026 and 8 categories growing over 5%. The leaders in terms of folio growth were Liquid Funds at 39.4%, short duration funds 26.8%, and money market funds at 22.2%. Folio growth is concentrated at the short end of the yield curve. Debt fund folio growth has improved sharply in recent months.

ACTIVE EQUITY FUNDS ADD 1.88 CRORE FOLIOS YOY

In February 2026, active equity funds added 1.88 Crore folios. Clearly, the speed of folio growth has been slowing in recent months. Retail momentum is slowing at higher levels. The pace of equity folio expansion has also tapered from above 20% to just above 11%.

Data Source: AMFI

In February 2026, total of 10 out of 11 active equity fund categories saw folio accretion; while ELSS folios contracted. The big boost to folio accretion came from flexi-cap funds 30.3%, multi-cap funds 21.9%, and mid-cap funds 17.5%. Only 2 of 11 equity fund categories saw folio accretion of over 20%. The new classification of funds as prescribed by SEBI has not been actioned as yet by AMFI.

HYBRID FUNDS – FOLIO ACCRETION FAVOURS ALLOCATION

All the 8 Hybrid and solution funds showed yoy growth in folios; although only 4 out of 8 hybrid fund category funds managed double-digit yoy growth in February 2026.

Data Source: AMFI

The 8 hybrid funds added 34.10 Lakh folios in last 1 year; with asset allocation the primary theme. The best folio growth was once again in multi asset allocation funds at 64.0%, followed by Arbitrage funds at 32.9%, BAFs at 10.3%, and Equity Savings Funds also at 10.3%. The growth in hybrid folios in percentage terms has picked up in recent months, up from around 12% to well above 15% in February 2026.

PASSIVE FUNDS ADDED 147.96 LAKH FOLIOS YOY

Passive funds have seen a sharp revival, with gold ETFs and silver ETFs triggering the massive surge in folios in recent months.

Data Source: AMFI

Gold ETFs again dominated folio growth at 76.9%, followed by Index ETFs at 37.4%, and International FOFs at 24.6% in February 2026. There appears to be a demand for domestic index products, global index products, as well as precious metals like gold and silver. If one looks at the category growth rate and compares with previous years, the thrust is not only coming from gold ETFs, but even index ETFs and FOFs have seen a meaningful spike in the folio growth in recent months. After all, when the markets look so uncertain, people prefer to play it safe and follow the market benchmarks!