New Delhi, Oct 19 — The mutual fund industry’s closing assets under management (AUM) declined by Rs 4.44 lakh crore, or 5.1 per cent, month on month, to Rs 82.64 lakh crore in September 2026 from Rs 87.09 lakh crore in August, a report said on Monday.
The report from ICRA Analytics said the contraction reflected two simultaneous pressures, namely industry‑wide net outflows of Rs 1.33 lakh crore, largely from short‑duration debt categories, and an estimated Rs 3.10 lakh crore adverse valuation and other residual impact.
Nearly 70 per cent of the fall in AUM was driven by changes in portfolio valuations and other reconciliation effects rather than net redemptions.
Gross mobilisation increased by 8.2 per cent month on month to Rs 15.25 lakh crore, but redemptions jumped 21.2 per cent to Rs 16.59 lakh crore.
Consequently, the industry moved from a net inflow of Rs 41,354 crore in August to an outflow of Rs 1.33 lakh crore in September, indicating that the deterioration was driven less by weak fresh mobilisation and more by a sharp increase in withdrawals, particularly from liquidity-management products.
Equity-oriented schemes recorded net inflows of Rs 38,294 crore in September, rising 30.6 per cent from August levels. The strongest mobilisation was seen in categories associated with diversified and growth-oriented investing.
Income and debt-oriented schemes recorded net outflows of Rs 1.83 lakh crore, compared with Rs 9,225 crore of outflows in August. This category alone accounted for more than the industry’s overall net outflow because equity, ETFs, and other categories continued to receive subscriptions.
Debt AUM consequently declined by Rs 1.70 lakh crore to Rs 17.75 lakh crore, the report noted.
Liquid and money market funds collectively registered withdrawals of approximately Rs 1.47 lakh crore, accounting for about 80 per cent of debt-category outflows. This concentration indicates that the weakness was principally associated with treasury and short-term cash-management activity, rather than a uniform withdrawal from longer-duration debt products.
Banking and PSU debt funds and gilt funds ended September with modestly higher AUM, whereas liquid, money market and ultra-short-term funds recorded substantial reductions.