Mutual fund industry trends for August showed net equity inflows declined by 21% to Rs 33,430 crore, compared to Rs 42,702.35 crore in July and Rs 23,587 crore in June, according to data released by AMFI on September 10.
This marks the 54th consecutive month of positive equity flows, underlining consistent investor appetite. However, the industry’s overall assets under management (AUM) declined marginally to Rs 75.18 crore, from Rs 75.35 lakh crore in July.
"While equity flows have moderated marginally from Rs 42,000 crore to about Rs 33,000 crore, a large part of last month’s surge was driven by sectoral categories. Hybrids too have eased, with inflows slowing from Rs 20,000 crore to around Rs 15,000 crore, largely due to arbitrage funds cooling off. That said, SIP numbers remain steady, which is a healthy sign," said Suranjana Borthakhur, Head of Distribution & Strategic Alliances, Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India).
Retail participation strengthened, with total mutual fund folios rising to 24.89 crore, against 24.57 crore in July and 24.13 crore in June. A total of 23 schemes were launched in the month of August 2025, all open-ended and across categories, raising a total of Rs 2,859 crores, compared to Rs 30,416 crore raised by 30 new schemes in July 2025.
Equity Funds
Equity mutual funds witnessed inflows of Rs 33,430 crore in August 2025, marking the 54th straight month of positive flows, though lower than July’s Rs 42,702 crore. Among categories, flexi-cap funds led with Rs 7,679 crore, followed by mid-cap funds at Rs 5,331 crore and small-cap funds at Rs 4,993 crore.
Large-cap funds continued their recovery trend, attracting Rs 2,835 crore. Sectoral/thematic funds saw Rs 3,893 crore, down from July’s Rs 9,426 crore, but still sizeable. Notably, ELSS funds turned positive with Rs 59 crore, after six months of outflows, indicating renewed investor interest ahead of tax planning season. Dividend yield funds, however, slipped into redemptions of Rs 175 crore. Overall, the data shows investors are favoring diversified and mid-sized equity segments, while allocations to tax-saving and large-cap categories are also picking up momentum.
Debt Funds
Debt-oriented mutual funds saw outflows of Rs 7,980 crore in August 2025, reversing the strong inflows of Rs 1.06 lakh crore in July. The decline was largely driven by liquid funds, which witnessed heavy redemptions of Rs 13,350 crore as corporates and institutions pulled out short-term money.
In contrast, overnight funds attracted Rs 4,951 crore, reflecting demand for ultra-safe parking avenues, while money market funds saw Rs 2,211 crore inflows. Short-duration and low-duration funds also recorded modest positive flows of Rs 565 crore and Rs 477 crore respectively.
On the other hand, corporate bond funds (-Rs 825 crore) and gilt funds (-Rs 928 crore) remained under pressure. The overall picture indicates a rotation within debt categories, with investors preferring very short-duration and liquid strategies amid rate uncertainties, while longer-tenure funds continued to witness lukewarm interest.
Hybrid funds also declined to Rs 15,293 from Rs 20,879 crore in July 2025. While gold ETFs collected Rs 2,190 crore in August compared to Rs 1,256 crore in July.
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