Equity AUM was down 2 per cent to ₹34.86 lakh crore largely due to mark-to-market loss amid extreme volatility
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For the first time ever, in January, inflows into precious metals — gold and silver through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) exceeded that of all equity schemes, which were beaten down by mark-to-market losses.
Combined inflows into gold and silver ETFs hit a high of ₹33,503 crore in January with gold ETFs garnering ₹24,040 crore ( ₹11,647 crore) and silver ETFs ₹9,463 crore ( ₹3,962 crore) as investors used the fall in precious metal prices to pump in more money. Inflows into equity schemes were lower at ₹24,029 crore in January, declining from ₹28,054 crore logged in December.
Overall, equity AUM was down 2 per cent to ₹34.86 lakh crore (₹35.72 lakh crore) largely due to mark-to-market loss amid extreme volatility.
Passive assets under management were up 6 per cent at ₹15.41 lakh crore (₹14.57 lakh crore) with an inflow of ₹39,955 crore (₹10,756 crore), according to the Association of Mutual Funds in India data released on Tuesday.
Strong demand
Venkat Chalasani, CEO, AMFI, said the demand for investing in gold will remain strong as long as the high US debt persists and central banks buy the yellow metal.
Silver prices were driven by industrial demand and prices are firming up due to short supply in the market, he said.
The inflows through SIPs were unchanged compared to ₹31,002 crore in December, even as SIP assets fell 2 per cent to ₹16.36 lakh crore (₹16.63 lakh crore).
Viraj Gandhi, CEO, SAMCO Mutual Fund, said with the exception of flexi cap schemes, all actively managed equity schemes displayed a significant slowdown in collections due to high valuations, sluggish corporate results, currency depreciation and ongoing FII selling.
Indian benchmarks (Sensex and Nifty) have recently underperformed the MSCI developing market index by a significant margin of 20 per cent, he said.
In contrast, gold and silver prices increased by over 70 per cent and almost 150 per cent in 2025, he said.
Testing patience
Vaiibhavv Chugh, CEO, Abakkus Mutual Fund, said the last 18 months have been testing investors’ patience, though they have shown resilience.
The time correction has led to valuation froth receding from markets and, specifically, on large caps, which has attracted more inflows, he said.
Though small caps may appear a bit expensive, he said it has a lot of opportunities and investors should now look at small caps as well.
Umesh Sharma, CIO Debt, the Wealth Company Mutual Fund, said gold and multi-asset categories continued to attract strong investor interest, with gold ETFs posting record inflows, driven by the superior one-year performance and silver relative to other major asset classes.
Their sustained outperformance has supported steady AUM expansion, reinforcing these segments as preferred diversification avenues amid volatile market conditions, he added.
Published on February 10, 2026