Mutual funds add 31.85 lakh folios in August 2025 to touch 24.89 Crore

15 Sep 2025 , 02:17 PM

MUTUAL FUNDS ADD 31.85 LAKH FOLIOS IN AUGUST 2025

For the month of August 2025, a total of 31.85 Lakh new folios were added, taking the total folio count to 24.89 Crore. For the full year to August 2025, Indian mutual funds added 4.44 Crore folios; predominantly across active equity and passive funds. Th clean-up of folios is done and dusted and the folios slowdown in August was largely on account of tariff-related uncertainty, as well a strong of holidays towards the end of the month.

From a level of 20 Lakh folio additions in May 2025; the momentum picked up to 30 Lakh folios in June 2025 and further to 44 Lakh folios in July 2025. In August, the folio expansion slowed to under 32 Lakhs. A much clearer picture emerges if on looks at folio growth over the last 11 years, mutual fund folios have grown 6.30 times from 3.95 Crore to 24.89 Crore. The acceleration was seen post-COVID, when we saw a surge of Gen-X and Gen-Z investors.

MF FOLIOS: MACRO PICTURE FOR AUGUST 2025

Here is the macro picture of mutual fund folio growth for August 2025.

Macro picture	Total Folios Aug-25	Total Folios Aug-24	Folio Growth
Open Ended Schemes	24,84,07,710	20,39,78,705	21.78%
Closed-Ended Schemes	5,01,714	5,42,934	-7.59%
Total of all schemes	24,89,09,424	20,45,21,639	21.70%

Data Source: AMFI

At a macro level, the total number of mutual fund folios as of August 2025 stood at 24.89 Crore; compared to 24.57 Crore in July, 24.13 Crore in June, and 23.83 Crore in May 2025. On a yoy basis, growth in total folios for August 2025 stood at 21.70%; progressively lower compared to 23.85% in July, 26.33% in June, and 28.15% in May 2025. While Folio Growth rate has been falling, it is not just about the SIP clean-up effect, but also due to a certain degree of ennui setting in among mutual fund investors.

ACTIVE DEBT FUND FOLIOS: FLATTERS IN AUGUST 2025

Debt fund folios have been under pressure for last couple of years; but there seems to be a turnaround since May 2025. Debt fund folios as of August 2025 grew by 8.41%; compared to 7.06% in July, 3.34% in June, and 0.89% in May 2025. Overnight funds, floater funds, credit risk funds, and Banking & PSU Funds saw contraction in folios in August too.

Active Debt Funds	Total Folios Aug-25	Total Folios Aug-24	Folio Growth
Long Duration Fund	94,316	72,740	29.66%
Money Market Fund	5,16,255	4,31,512	19.64%
Liquid Fund	21,31,349	17,90,910	19.01%
Short Duration Fund	5,17,942	4,39,164	17.94%
Gilt Fund	2,29,584	1,96,737	16.70%
Ultra Short Duration Fund	7,32,657	6,40,477	14.39%
Dynamic Bond Fund	2,40,006	2,17,669	10.26%
Medium Duration Fund	2,33,423	2,15,558	8.29%
Gilt Fund with 10Y Duration	39,073	36,166	8.04%
Medium to Long Duration Fund	1,04,533	98,521	6.10%
Corporate Bond Fund	5,65,827	5,36,081	5.55%
Low Duration Fund	8,57,058	8,39,083	2.14%
Banking and PSU Fund	2,40,524	2,42,657	-0.88%
Credit Risk Fund	1,86,961	1,91,020	-2.12%
Floater Fund	2,00,291	2,04,910	-2.25%
Overnight Fund	7,16,620	8,63,086	-16.97%
Sub Total – Active Debt Funds	76,06,419	70,16,291	8.41%

Data Source: AMFI

Of the 16 categories of debt funds, 12 categories showed positive growth in folios, with 7 of these categories growing at over 10% yoy in August 2025 and 11 growing in over 5%. The leader in terms of folio growth was, Long Duration Funds at 29.66% yoy, followed by money market funds at 19.64%. Overnight funds saw folio contraction of -16.97% and floater folios contracted -2.25% yoy. Folio growth quality of debt funds has improved sharply of late.

ACTIVE EQUITY FUNDS ADD 3.04 CRORE FOLIOS YOY

In August 2025, active equity funds added nearly 3.04 Crore folios; compared to 3.38 Crore folios in July, 3.51 Crore folios in June, 3.71 Crore folios in May, and 3.94 Crore folios in April 2025. For active equity funds, the yoy folio expansion for August 2025 further tapered to 21.25%; compared to 23.67% in July, 26.39% in June, 28.80% in May, and 31.39% in April, 2025. Volatility, valuations, and overall boredom appear to be hitting folio growth pace.

Active Equity Funds	Total Folios Aug-25	Total Folios Aug-24	Folio Growth
Multi Cap Fund	1,05,82,438	76,63,105	38.10%
Mid Cap Fund	2,30,00,768	1,67,02,539	37.71%
Flexi Cap Fund	1,98,38,017	1,56,85,939	26.47%
Small Cap Fund	2,66,35,485	2,15,73,827	23.46%
Large & Mid Cap Fund	1,26,91,674	1,03,16,175	23.03%
Sectoral/Thematic Funds	3,19,39,915	2,63,68,314	21.13%
Value Fund/Contra Fund	86,12,986	72,65,493	18.55%
Dividend Yield Fund	12,05,305	10,27,942	17.25%
Large Cap Fund	1,65,39,476	1,46,41,638	12.96%
Focused Fund	53,25,168	50,80,648	4.81%
ELSS	1,68,59,956	1,65,49,630	1.88%
Sub Total – Active Equity Funds	17,32,31,188	14,28,75,250	21.25%

Data Source: AMFI

In August 2025, all 11 active equity fund categories witnessed accretion in folios; but growth in folios was in single digits for focused funds and ELSS funds. The big boost to folio accretion came from multi-cap funds 38.10%, mid-cap funds 37.71%; followed by flexi-cap funds at 26.41%, and small cap funds at 23.46%. A total of 6 out of 11 equity fund categories saw folio accretion of over 20%. Alpha hunting and allocation are dominant themes.

HYBRID FUNDS – BROAD-BASED FOLIO ACCRETION

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

Hybrid / Solution Funds	Total Folios Aug-25	Total Folios Aug-24	Folio Growth
Multi Asset Allocation Fund	35,60,534	24,94,704	42.72%
Arbitrage Fund	6,81,565	5,41,196	25.94%
Equity Savings Fund	5,10,097	4,39,021	16.19%
Dynamic Asset Allocation/BAF	54,74,637	48,71,024	12.39%
Aggressive Hybrid Fund	59,64,898	55,54,971	7.38%
Conservative Hybrid Fund	5,70,583	5,47,626	4.19%
Children’s Fund	31,30,503	30,08,909	4.04%
Retirement Fund	30,22,062	29,47,052	2.55%
Sub Total – Hybrid Funds	2,29,14,879	2,04,04,503	12.30%

Data Source: AMFI

The 8 hybrid funds added 25.10 Lakh folios in last 1 year; with cross asset allocation being the preferred theme. The best folio growth was once again in multi asset allocation funds at 42.72%, followed by Arbitrage funds at 25.94%, Equity Savings Funds at 16.19%, and Balanced Advantage Funds (BAFs) at 12.39%. Asset allocation is now a genuine hybrid theme; and arbitrage funds are more an alternative to liquid funds due to tax advantages. In August 2025, hybrid fund folios grew 12.30%; compared to 12.39% in July, 11.81% in June, and 11.93% in May 2025. After several months of falling growth, Hybrid funds have seen flat folio growth in August 2025.

PASSIVE FUNDS ADDED 1.10 CRORE FOLIOS YOY

Passive funds have seen a revival of interest in the last 2 months and that is evident in the folio growth percentages. Gold ETFs continues to lead the fray.

Passive Funds	Total Folios Aug-25	Total Folios Aug-24	Folio Growth
GOLD ETF	80,33,855	56,60,198	41.94%
Index Funds	1,39,53,213	1,03,43,195	34.90%
Other ETFs	2,12,52,597	1,62,72,528	30.60%
FOFs investing overseas	14,15,559	14,06,740	0.63%
Sub Total – Passive Funds	4,46,55,224	3,36,82,661	32.58%

Data Source: AMFI

Gold ETFs, once again, dominated folio growth at 41.94%, followed by Index Funds at 34.90%, while index ETFs grew at a healthy clip of 30.60% in August 2025. After seeing folio contraction for several months in a row, even the FOFs investing overseas saw marginal yoy folio growth of 0.63% in August. Passive fund folio growth in August 2025 stood at 32.58%; compared to 36.01% in July, 41.44% in June, and 43.29% in May 2025. Growth in passive folios may be waning, but that is the trend across. Also, the popularity of passive funds is normally in contrast to the popularity of active funds. We may have to wait for that!