Hello investors!
March kept things interesting for the Mutual Fund world. While the Tax season led to short-term outflows, the market surprised everyone with a sharp recovery - and investors, once again, showed their trust in long-term investing through SIPs and diversified strategies. Let’s break it all down 
Industry Highlights.
- Total Assets Under Management (AUM) reached ₹65.74 lakh crore - up 23.11% year-on-year That’s a 1.87% rise from February, despite ₹1.64 lakh crore in net outflows.
- The reason? A strong March-end equity rally - Nifty 50 gained 6.3%, Sensex 5.8%, boosting portfolio values through mark-to-market gains. Continued Growth in Folio Numbers: 22.27 lakh new folios were added
- Continued Growth in Folio Numbers: The total folio count stands at 23.45 crore - with equity and passive funds contributing to over 87% of new accounts!
Source: AMFI, CRISIL MI&A Research
Types of Mutual Funds and Their Performance
Key Highlights and Unique Observations:
-
Equity Funds: Equity funds saw ₹25,082 crore in net inflows - 48 months in a row and counting! Flexi-cap funds led with ₹5,615 crore in inflows.
Interestingly, sectoral and thematic funds - which were the darlings last month - saw inflows plunge to just ₹170 crore (vs ₹5,700+ crore in Feb).
Investors are now moving away from FOMO-fueled themes to broader, diversified strategies - a sign of growing maturity.
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Debt Funds: The category saw outflows of ₹2.03 lakh crore, primarily from liquid and money market funds - typical during quarter-end tax payments.
Yet, AUM of long-duration and gilt funds increased - thanks to falling G-Sec yields.
Seasoned investors are positioning for a potential rate cut cycle - loading up on longer-duration debt.
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Hybrid Funds: Despite ₹947 crore in net outflows, total AUM grew 3.7% to ₹8.83 lakh crore due to equity market recovery. Multi-asset allocation funds attracted the highest inflows in this category.
Investors are embracing well-balanced products that offer exposure to equity, debt, and gold - all in one place.
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Passive Funds: Passive investing continues its winning streak - ₹14,149 crore in net inflows, 53rd straight positive month! AUM hit a new high of ₹11.47 lakh crore.
22 new index/ETF NFOs launched, collecting over ₹2,100 crore.
Gold ETFs saw minor outflows (₹77 crore) - likely due to profit booking after a year of strong performance.
Passive is no longer niche - it’s mainstream. Investors are choosing simplicity, scale, and cost-efficiency.
SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) Insights
₹25,926 crore was contributed through SIPs in March - up 34.53% YoY. SIP AUM hit ₹13.35 lakh crore - now 20.3% of total MF industry AUM
Active SIP accounts: 8.11 crore (vs 6.38 crore in April 2024)
However, the SIP stoppage ratio quietly rose above 120% - meaning more SIPs were stopped than started.
Investors aren’t quitting SIPs - many are booking profits or adjusting during market highs. It’s tactical, not emotional.
New Schemes Launched in Mar’25
30 New Fund Offers (NFOs) launched - Total collections: ₹4,085 crore
The majority were index funds, ETFs, and multi-asset - clearly, investors are choosing focused or all-in-one strategies.
| Category | Scheme Name | Fund House |
|---|---|---|
| Income/Debt Oriented | Edelweiss Low Duration Fund | Edelweiss Mutual Fund |
| Franklin India Low Duration Fund | Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund | |
| Growth/Equity Oriented | Samco Large Cap Fund | Samco Mutual Fund |
| Helios Mid Cap Fund | Helios Mutual Fund | |
| Mahindra Manulife Value Fund | Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund | |
| Motilal Oswal Active Momentum Fund | Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund | |
| Hybrid Schemes | Unifi Dynamic Asset Allocation Fund | Unifi Capital Mutual Fund |
| WhiteOak Capital Equity Savings Fund | WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund | |
| Other – Index Funds | Aditya Birla SL CRISIL-IBX Financial Services 9–12M Debt Index Fund | Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund |
| Bandhan CRISIL-IBX 10:90 Gilt + SDL Index Dec 2029 Fund | Bandhan Mutual Fund | |
| Bandhan CRISIL-IBX Financial Services 3–6M Debt Index Fund | Bandhan Mutual Fund | |
| DSP Nifty Private Bank Index Fund | DSP Mutual Fund | |
| HDFC Nifty Top 20 Equal Weight Index Fund | HDFC Mutual Fund | |
| ICICI Pru CRISIL-IBX Financial Services 3–6M Debt Index Fund | ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund | |
| Kotak Nifty Commodities Index Fund | Kotak Mutual Fund | |
| Kotak Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund | Kotak Mutual Fund | |
| Kotak CRISIL-IBX Financial Services 3–6M Debt Index Fund | Kotak Mutual Fund | |
| Navi Nifty Smallcap250 Momentum Quality 100 Index Fund | Navi Mutual Fund | |
| SBI BSE PSU Bank Index Fund | SBI Mutual Fund | |
| Angel One Nifty 1D Rate Liquid ETF – Growth | Angel One Mutual Fund | |
| ICICI Prudential BSE Liquid Rate ETF – Growth | ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund |
Happy Investing,
Saurav Parui.