Mutual fund folios scale to 23.83 Crore in May 2025

11 Jun 2025 , 10:39 AM

MUTUAL FUNDS ADD 20 LAKH FOLIOS IN MAY 2025

In last 4 months, the spike in SIP stoppage ratio had resulted in slowing of folio growth. As per AMFI, the main reason for the spike in SIP stoppage ratio was the inactive folios that were being closed. However, that exercise has been completed now, and hopefully the SIP stoppage has also normalized. In last 4 months, mutual fund folio addition had slowed substantially. Overall folios added by mutual funds were 31 Lakhs in February, 22 Lakhs in March, and just 18 Lakhs in April 2025. In May 2025, the SIP accretion bounced to 20 Lakhs, and should show smarter recovery in coming months. Over last 11 years, mutual fund folios have grown 6.03 times from 3.95 Crore to 23.83 Crore. SIP stoppage ratio sobered from over 300% in April to just 72% in May 2025.

MF FOLIOS: MACRO PICTURE FOR MAY 2025

Here is the macro picture of mutual fund folio growth for May 2025; across open-ended and close-ended funds?

Macro picture	Total Folios May-25	Total Folios May-24	Folio Growth
Open ended Funds	23,78,02,650	18,54,14,491	28.25%
Closed Ended and Interval Funds	5,10,120	5,53,731	-7.88%
Grand Total	23,83,12,770	18,59,68,222	28.15%

Data Source: AMFI

At a macro level, the total number of mutual fund folios as of May 2025 stood at 23.83 Crore; compared to 23.63 Crore in April, 23.45 Crore in March, 23.23 Crore in February, and 22.92 Crore in January 2025. On a yoy basis, growth in total folios for May 2025 stood at 28.15%; compared to 30.21% in April, 31.85% in March, 33.34% in February, and 35.17% in January 2025. With inactive SIPs cleaned up, we should now get a clearer picture.

ACTIVE DEBT FUND FOLIOS: POSITIVE TRACTION AFTER A LONG GAP

Debt fund folios have been under pressure for last couple of years and that trend continues; although there was some reason to smile in May 2025. Debt fund folios as of May 2025 expanded by +0.89%; compared to -1.15% in April, -3.00% in March, and -3.69% in February 2025. Overnight funds, credit risk funds, floater funds, and Banking & PSU Funds saw the sharpest contraction in folios in May 2025.

Active Debt Funds	Total Folios May-25	Total Folios May-24	Folio Growth
Long Duration Fund	97,786	65,890	48.41%
Gilt Fund	2,32,237	1,88,990	22.88%
Ultra Short Duration Fund	6,95,720	6,36,325	9.33%
Liquid Fund	19,41,435	17,92,865	8.29%
Dynamic Bond Fund	2,34,872	2,17,675	7.90%
Short Duration Fund	4,75,177	4,42,312	7.43%
Medium to Long Duration Fund	1,04,030	99,772	4.27%
Money Market Fund	4,45,926	4,31,251	3.40%
Gilt Fund with 10-Yr Duration	37,854	37,146	1.91%
Medium Duration Fund	2,23,104	2,23,256	-0.07%
Corporate Bond Fund	5,41,227	5,41,781	-0.10%
Low Duration Fund	8,46,370	8,63,247	-1.96%
Banking and PSU Fund	2,38,455	2,51,252	-5.09%
Floater Fund	1,98,875	2,11,929	-6.16%
Credit Risk Fund	1,82,494	2,01,534	-9.45%
Overnight Fund	6,59,424	8,86,752	-25.64%
Sub Total – Active Debt Funds	71,54,986	70,91,977	0.89%

Data Source: AMFI

Of the 16 categories of debt funds, 9 categories showed positive growth in folios, with 8 of these  categories growing at over 2% yoy in May 2025 and 2 growing in double digits. The leader in terms of folio growth was, Long Duration Funds at 48.41% yoy, followed by gilt funds at 22.88%. Overnight funds saw folio contraction of -25.64% and credit risk folios contracted -9.45% yoy. Four debt fund categories saw yoy folio contraction beyond -5%.

ACTIVE EQUITY FUNDS ADD 3.71 CRORE FOLIOS YOY

In May 2025, active equity funds added 3.71 Crore folios; compared to 3.94 Crore folios in April, 4.10 Crore folios in March, 4.23 Crore folios in February, and 4.41 Crore folios in January 2025. For active equity funds, the yoy folio expansion for May 2025 tapered to 28.80%; compared to 31.39% in April, 33.38% in March, 35.22% in February, and 37.9% in January 2025. The rate of growth has been progressively slowing at higher index levels.

Active Equity Funds	Total Folios May-25	Total Folios May-24	Folio Growth
Multi Cap Fund	98,26,483	65,13,410	50.87%
Sectoral/Thematic Funds	3,09,82,541	2,05,67,662	50.64%
Mid Cap Fund	2,15,38,476	1,47,90,033	45.63%
Dividend Yield Fund	12,00,267	9,25,566	29.68%
Value Fund/Contra Fund	83,68,668	65,28,568	28.19%
Small Cap Fund	2,52,48,991	1,98,32,640	27.31%
Flexi Cap Fund	1,85,10,887	1,47,75,146	25.28%
Large & Mid Cap Fund	1,20,69,826	96,41,201	25.19%
Large Cap Fund	1,61,75,181	1,39,88,501	15.63%
ELSS	1,69,19,934	1,63,07,461	3.76%
Focused Fund	52,46,530	50,77,097	3.34%
Sub Total – Active Equity Funds	16,60,87,784	12,89,47,285	28.80%

Data Source: AMFI

In May 2025, all 11 active equity fund categories witnessed accretion in folios; although the growth in folios was in single digits in case of focused funds and ELSS funds. The big boost to folio accretion in equity funds came from multi-cap funds 50.87%, sectoral / thematic funds at 50.64%; followed by mid-cap funds at 45.63%, and dividend yield funds at 29.68%. A total of 8 out of 11 equity fund categories saw folio accretion of over 25%. If you look at retail folio addition, the hunt for alpha appears to be quite dominant.

HYBRID FUNDS – ALLOCATION STILL THE KEY NARRATIVE

All the 8 Hybrid and solution funds showed yoy growth in folios; although 4 out of the 8 hybrid fund category funds only managed single-digit yoy growth in May 2025.

Hybrid / Solution Funds	Total Folios May-25	Total Folios May-24	Folio Growth
Multi Asset Allocation Fund	32,26,116	21,99,811	46.65%
Arbitrage Fund	6,31,630	5,13,594	22.98%
Equity Savings Fund	4,82,654	4,19,698	15.00%
Dynamic Asset Allocation/BAF	52,88,342	46,91,324	12.73%
Aggressive Hybrid Fund	58,05,601	54,60,124	6.33%
Children’s Fund	30,93,038	29,93,312	3.33%
Retirement Fund	30,03,234	29,13,515	3.08%
Conservative Hybrid Fund	5,55,080	5,41,125	2.58%
Sub Total – Hybrid Funds	2,20,85,695	1,97,32,503	11.93%

Data Source: AMFI

The 8 hybrid funds added 23.5 Lakh folios in the last 1 year; with 4 out of these 8 reporting double-digit folio growth. The best folio growth was once again in multi asset allocation funds at 46.65%, followed by Arbitrage funds at 22.98%, Equity Savings Funds at 15.00%, and Balanced Advantage Funds (BAFs) at 12.73%. Asset allocation has emerged as a powerful hybrid theme; while arbitrage funds are giving liquid funds a run for their money. Hybrid fund folios grew 11.93% yoy in May 2025; compared to 12.09% in April, 12.39% in March, 12.70% yoy in February, and 12.70% in January 2025. Hybrid funds are losing out on folio addition due to equity index levels; but remains a strong allocation theme.

PASSIVE FUNDS ADD 1.28 CRORE FOLIOS IN LAST ONE YEAR

Net inflows into passive funds in May 2025 fell by over 75% compared to April, as the flows into index funds and index ETFs were relatively subdued.

Passive Funds	Total Folios May-25	Total Folios May-24	Folio Growth
Index Funds	1,32,34,811	83,63,709	58.24%
Other ETFs	2,04,93,330	1,44,77,642	41.55%
GOLD ETF	73,68,808	53,20,483	38.50%
FOFs investing overseas	13,77,236	14,80,892	-7.00%
Sub Total – Passive Funds	4,24,74,185	2,96,42,726	43.29%

Data Source: AMFI

International Fund of Funds (FOF) saw contraction in folios for the ninth month in a row. Index funds dominated folio growth at 58.24%, followed by index ETFs at 41.55%, while gold ETFs held investor interest at 38.50% in May 2025. Passive fund folio growth in May 2025 stood at 43.29%; compared to 45.94% in April, 48.31% in March, 50.15% in February, and 50.92% in January 2025. Growth in passive folios may be gradually waning, but they are likely to gain more mind space, once active managers struggle to beat the benchmark.