MF Folios Hit 24.89 Cr in August 2025: Retail Surge Continues
India’s mutual fund ecosystem saw folios rise by 1.3% in August 2025, led by strong growth in passive and equity categories. The trend highlights increasing retail participation and the expanding footprint of systematic investing across the country.
Why The Obsession With Folios?
If the assets under management (AUM) is a good barometer of the clout of a fund, it does not say too much about the retail spread . That is captured better by the folios. Now, folios are unique account numbers that are unique to each AMC. If you have mutual fund investments across 5 AMCs, then you typically have 5 folios at the minimum. There are multiple folios for each person, so even folios are not a good barometer of unique investors. But folios are the closest to measuring retail participation in MFs.
For example, in 2014, the total number of mutual fund folios were at 3.95 Crore. In the last 11 years, the number of folios has grown 6.3 times to 24.89 Crore. Clearly, that is a lot of retail appetite for mutual funds and that trend also gels with the growth of Gen-X and Gen-Z participation in mutual funds. While a yoy growth in folios shows a secular trend, the MOM growth in folios gives the short-term trend of folios. That is what we focus on here.
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 (Aug-25) | Folios (Jul-25) | Folios Growth (MOM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt Funds | 76,06,419 | 75,11,896 | 1.26% |
| Equity Funds | 17,32,31,188 | 17,12,77,231 | 1.14% |
| Hybrid Funds | 2,29,14,879 | 2,26,61,900 | 1.12% |
| Passive Funds | 4,46,55,224 | 4,37,69,720 | 2.02% |
| Open Ended Funds | 24,84,07,710 | 24,52,20,747 | 1.30% |
| Close-Ended Funds | 5,01,714 | 5,03,592 | -0.37% |
| Grand Total Folios | 24,89,09,424 | 24,57,24,339 | 1.30% |
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. Within the fund categories, the passive funds were the most popular as measured by growth in folios MOM. Debt funds, surprisingly, ranked in second place, albeit on a much smaller base of investors.**
How Debt Funds Grew Folios In August 2025
Here is a quick look at how the folios moved between July 2025 and August 2025 in the case of the debt funds in India.
| Debt Funds | Folios (Aug-25) | Folios (Jul-25) | Folios Growth (MOM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid Fund | 21,31,349 | 20,82,344 | 2.35% |
| Short Duration Fund | 5,17,942 | 5,06,036 | 2.35% |
| Overnight Fund | 7,16,620 | 7,06,888 | 1.38% |
| Money Market Fund | 5,16,255 | 5,09,995 | 1.23% |
| Ultra Short Duration Fund | 7,32,657 | 7,24,730 | 1.09% |
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. Overall folio growth for the debt funds segment was at 1.26%.
How Equity Funds Grew Folios In August 2025
Here is a quick look at how the folios moved between July 2025 and August 2025 in the case of the equity funds in India.
| Equity Funds | Folios (Aug-25) | Folios (Jul-25) | Folios Growth (MOM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi Cap Fund | 1,05,82,438 | 1,03,57,646 | 2.17% |
| Flexi Cap Fund | 1,98,38,017 | 1,94,48,661 | 2.00% |
| Mid Cap Fund | 2,30,00,768 | 2,25,64,162 | 1.93% |
| Small Cap Fund | 2,66,35,485 | 2,62,55,276 | 1.45% |
| Large & Mid Cap Fund | 1,26,91,674 | 1,25,11,660 | 1.44% |
Data Source: AMFI
Interestingly, the fund categories that got the best flows, are also the ones seeing the best folio growth MOM. The theme continues to be a combination of alpha and diversified allocation, and that has played out in folio growth too.
How Hybrid Allocation Funds Grew Folios In August 2025
Here is a quick look at how the folios moved between July 2025 and August 2025 in the case of the hybrid funds in India.
| Hybrid Funds | Folios (Aug-25) | Folios (Jul-25) | Folios Growth (MOM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi Asset Allocation Fund | 35,60,534 | 34,59,194 | 2.93% |
| Arbitrage Fund | 6,81,565 | 6,64,338 | 2.59% |
| Equity Savings Fund | 5,10,097 | 5,00,437 | 1.93% |
| Dynamic Asset Allocation/BAF | 54,74,637 | 54,25,213 | 0.91% |
| Aggressive Hybrid Fund | 59,64,898 | 59,12,528 | 0.89% |
Data Source: AMFI
Most of the hybrid funds seeing the best folio growth in August were the strategic asset allocation funds. The one exception is arbitrage funds, which is more about the shift from liquid funds due to the favorable tax treatment for arbitrage funds.
How Passive Funds Grew Folios In August 2025
Here is a quick look at how the folios moved between July 2025 and August 2025 in the case of passive funds in India.
| Passive Funds | Folios (Aug-25) | Folios (Jul-25) | Folios Growth (MOM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other ETFs | 2,12,52,597 | 2,08,10,327 | 2.13% |
| GOLD ETF | 80,33,855 | 78,69,544 | 2.09% |
| Index Funds | 1,39,53,213 | 1,36,98,815 | 1.86% |
| FOFs investing overseas | 14,15,559 | 13,91,034 | 1.76% |
Data Source: AMFI
As a category, passive funds saw a sharp revival with the best folio growth MOM. Index ETFs have been supported by NFOs, while gold ETFs have been supported by the growth in gold prices to relentless highs. Passive funds have low dispersion in folio growth.
Folio growth in passive funds has been much better than active funds, which is a signal that markets may again be gravitating towards passive. Jio Blackrock may be helping the process.
Want help choosing funds that suit your goals?
Start with Tick FundsDisclaimer: Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks; read all scheme-related documents carefully. SERNET is an AMFI-registered mutual fund distributor and receives commission from fund houses.
Was this article helpful?