MF industry’s AUM surges to `81 lakh crore in 2025

Mutual fund industry extended its bull run in 2025, adding a staggering Rs 14 lakh crore to its asset base and pushing total AUM to a record Rs 81 lakh crore by November, powered by surge in retail participation and record SIP inflows.

Venkat Chalasani, Chief Executive Officer of AMFI, told that the industry’s outlook remains positive, with steady SIP inflows continuing to offset foreign portfolio investor outflows and strengthening market resilience. Going ahead, fund flows are likely to be guided by valuations and global developments, with investors increasingly favouring large-cap, diversified and hybrid strategies, he added.

The year 2025 also witnessed a robust net inflow of Rs 7 lakh crore, along with a sharp increase of 3.36 crore in the investor base, while SIPs alone contributed about Rs 3 lakh crore, according to data from Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). These inflows lifted the industry’s assets under management (AUM) by 21 per cent from Rs 67 lakh crore at the end of 2024 to Rs 81 lakh crore by November-end.

While the pace of growth was lower than the 31 per cent rise recorded in 2024 and the 27 per cent increase in 2023, the longer-term trend remains strong. The industry had posted a 7 per cent growth in 2022 and nearly 22 per cent in 2021, and has collectively added Rs 50 lakh crore to its asset base over the last five years.

Himanshu Srivastava, Principal Manager – Research at Morningstar Investment Research India, said the sharp rise in AUM in 2025 was driven by a combination of strong equity market performance and sustained retail participation through SIPs.

He added that the “ongoing financialisation of household savings, growing participation from first-time investors and increasing preference for mutual funds as a transparent, well-regulated investment vehicle also played a meaningful role. “Over the medium to long term, rising financial awareness, broader retail participation beyond metropolitan centres, and the sustained adoption of SIPs should continue to support healthy, resilient, and broad-based growth for the industry,” Chalasani said.

Also, the industry has now logged its 13th consecutive annual increase in AUM, after two years of decline earlier in the last decade, suggesting the structural shift toward long-term investing. This momentum was largely supported by steady inflows into equity schemes, especially through SIPs.

The 49-player industry recorded total inflows of Rs 7 lakh crore in 2025 till November, backed by sustained investor interest in equity funds, arbitrage funds, and index funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs). Of this, around Rs 3.22 lakh crore flowed into equity-oriented schemes and nearly Rs 3 lakh crore into debt schemes. Equity schemes, which were the biggest draw for investors in 2025, have now seen uninterrupted monthly net inflows since March 2021.