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Equity Mutual Fund Inflows Drop For 2nd Month, Fall 14.3% In January; Gold ETF Investments Double
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Except for the ELSS category, all the mutual fund categories receive net inflows in January 2026, suggesting a broader positive sentiment.
Sectoral and thematic funds saw a pickup in net inflows during the month, suggesting selective tactical positioning by investors toward specific opportunities rather than broad-based risk taking.
AMFI Data For January 2026: Equity mutual fund inflows witnessed a decline for the second consecutive month in January 2026 as markets remained volatile amid geopolitical and trade risks. According to the latest data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), equity MF inflows during the month fell 14.35% month-on-month to Rs 24,029 crore.
Gold ETFs emerged as one of the top-performing categories in terms of investor interest. Net inflows into gold ETFs surged to about Rs 24,040 crore in January, more than doubling from Rs 11,647 crore in December, making gold a clear standout for the month.
As of January 31, 2026, open-ended equity-oriented mutual fund schemes had assets under management of Rs 34.86 lakh crore, significantly higher than the Rs 18.90 lakh crore managed by open-ended debt-oriented schemes, indicating that equity funds continue to command a larger share of the industry’s assets despite month-on-month fluctuations in flows.
The mutual fund industry overall returned to net inflows in January, with total inflows turning positive at Rs 1.56 lakh crore. This recovery was largely driven by debt schemes, which recorded net inflows of Rs 74,827 crore during the month after witnessing substantial outflows in December.
Investor participation was also strong across other segments. Hybrid schemes saw net inflows of Rs 17,356 crore, while “other schemes”, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), attracted Rs 39,955 crore. Solution-oriented schemes posted stable inflows of around Rs 341 crore in January.
Himanshu Srivastava, principal research at Morningstar Investment Research India, said, “Equity-oriented mutual fund categories recorded net inflows of Rs 24,029 crore in January 2026, lower than Rs 28,054 crore in December, indicating a moderation in pace rather than any meaningful deterioration in investor sentiment. Flows remained constructive despite bouts of market volatility, supported by steady SIP contributions and continued confidence in the long-term structural growth prospects of Indian equities.”
The moderation in overall inflows was largely driven by cooling momentum in the mid- and small-cap segments. While these categories continued to attract healthy absolute inflows of INR 3,185 crore and INR 2,942 crore respectively, the pace slowed sharply compared with the previous month, reflecting elevated valuations and recent corrections prompting investors to adopt a more cautious and selective approach. Some amount of profit booking after the strong performance seen over the past years also weighed on incremental allocations, he added.
“Large-cap and focused funds also witnessed healthy traction in January, recording higher inflows compared with December. Both the categories garnered inflows of about INR 2,005 crore and INR 1,557 crore respectively. This suggests a gradual tilt toward quality, earnings visibility, and relatively stable portfolios amid an uncertain global backdrop,” Srivastava said.
Flexi-cap funds, continued to remain the largest category by assets and saw the highest net inflows in January at Rs 7,672 crore. This points towards investors preference for flexible investment options to capture investment opportunities across market segments. There was a moderation in flows however from December, possibly reflecting a wait-and-watch stance after sustained strong allocations in recent months.
Sectoral and thematic funds, however, saw a pickup in net inflows during the month, suggesting selective tactical positioning by investors toward specific opportunities rather than broad-based risk taking. However, the quantum of flows in the recent months has come down significantly.
“Except for the ELSS category, all the categories received net inflows suggesting a broader positive sentiment. Also, there has been a significant slowdown in the NFO activity,” Srivastava said.
Overall, the flow trend suggests that equity participation remains structurally intact, but investor behaviour is becoming more balanced and risk-aware, with allocations gradually shifting toward stability, diversification, and valuation comfort rather than aggressive positioning in slightly riskier segments, he added.
Foreign portfolio investors pulled out about $4 billion from Indian equities during the month.
The benchmark Nifty 50 and Sensex dropped 3.1% and 3.5% in January, while the broader small-caps and mid-caps fell 4.7% and 3.4%, respectively.
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February 10, 2026, 12:03 IST
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