Individual investors’ AUM jumps 8x in a decade vs 6x industry growth: Franklin Templeton

Individual investors’ AUM has grown nearly 8x over the past 10 years, compared with a 6x expansion in overall industry AUM, according to a press note by Franklin Templeton India Mutual Fund on developments in the Indian mutual fund industry.

Over the past five years, individual investors’ AUM recorded a CAGR of 24%, outpacing the industry’s 22% CAGR. Over 10 years, individual AUM grew at a 23% CAGR versus 20% for the industry.

Meanwhile, the number of unique investor accounts rose to 6.02 crore from 5.33 crore, marking a 12.8% year-on-year increase.


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Individual AUM now accounts for 60% of the total mutual fund industry AUM. Equity-oriented schemes derive 87% of their assets from individual investors. In contrast, institutional investors dominate liquid and money market schemes (89%), debt-oriented schemes (67%), and ETFs and FoFs (84%).

In terms of distribution channels, equity schemes make up 38% of direct AUM and a significant 81% of distributor-driven AUM. Debt schemes account for 19% of direct AUM and 9% of distributor-driven AUM.

Indian mutual fund industry’s passive AUM stood at Rs 15.02 Lakh crore in January 2026 from Rs 10.91 lakh crore a year ago, a growth of 37.7% YoY. Overall industry AUM stood at Rs 81.01 lakh crore by the end of January 2026. Industry AUM grew by 22% CAGR in the last 5 years and 20% CAGR in the last 10 years, ending January 2026. Equity-oriented AUM stood at Rs 58.02 lakh crore, up 20.6% YoY Fixed Income-oriented stood at Rs 23.00 lakh crore, up 20.2%.

The release also highlighted that most funds saw positive flows in the month of January, barring ELSS. Flexi Cap Funds topped net sales over the last 12 months with net inflows of Rs 7672 crore. This segment has witnessed inflows of Rs 82,954 crore in the past 12 months.

The monthly SIP gross sales in January stood at Rs 31,002 crore vs Rs 26,400 crore, up 17% YoY. The amount of monthly SIPs has doubled in less than 3 years. The SIP accounts rose to 10.29 crore in January 2026, up 0.2% YoY. Average SIP size up at Rs 3012 per month vs Rs 2571 per month last year. SIP AUM stood at Rs 16.36 lakh crore vs Rs 13.20 lakh crore, up 24% YoY. The SIP AUM to total Equity AUM as a percentage stood at 8.2% vs 27.4% YoY.

Mutual Funds moving beyond top 15 cities

The mutual fund industry is moving beyond the top 15 cities. The share of B15 cities in MF AUM has risen from 29% in December 2020 to 30% in December 2025, showcasing the wider acceptance of mutual funds as a saving and wealth creation tool beyond metro cities in India.

Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru are the top three cities contributing to AUM. Pune, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad are fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively.

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B30 AUM growth outpaced T30 AUM growth

The share of B30 AUM in Industry AUM has increased from 16% in December 2020 to 18% in Jan 2026. While the B30 AUM growth is 24% CAGR, the T30 AUM growth stood at 20% CAGR.

Top 10 states - Contribution to AAUM

Among the states’ contribution to overall MF AUM, Maharashtra is a clear number 1 with AUM over Rs 33.69 lakh crore, Delhi at the second spot with Rs 6.44 lakh crore, Karnataka at the third spot with AUM of Rs 5.66 lakh crore, and Gujarat at number four with AUM at Rs 5.57 lakh crore.

In terms of growth, Rajasthan saw an AUM growth of 23.10% in the past 12 months, even higher than Maharashtra’s 22.64% AUM growth.

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