The breath-taking rally in gold prices in January when it crossed the $5,600/oz-mark had the inflows into gold ETFs soaring two times to Rs 24,040 crore which more than equals the inflows into equity oriented funds, in a first for the segment. In the previous months this was only Rs 11,647 crore, while equity funds gathered just about Rs 24,028 crore down 14% on-month, marking the second straight month of declines.
The gold ETF milestone marks one of the strongest monthly endorsements of bullion by domestic investors in recent years and year-to-date, gold ETFs have alone attracted Rs 61,000 crore, suggesting sustained investor interest in precious metals as an asset class at a time when equity markets remain volatile, according to the latest Amfi data released Tuesday.
The surge stands out against October and September levels of Rs 7,743 crore and Rs 8,363 crore respectively, highlighting a clear acceleration in investor interest in gold alongside broader portfolio allocations. The strong performance of gold ETFs also push total net inflows across ETFs and overseas-oriented fund categories to Rs 39,954.63 crore in January, up from Rs 26,723.24 crore in December.
According to the data from the World Gold Council, January itself accounted for 12.5% of total gold ETF assets under management in the domestic market. Gold ETF holdings worldwide remain near a more than three-year high, even after a pullback in prices last week, as the drivers behind the blistering rally--including elevated geopolitical risk and waning confidence in sovereign bonds and currencies — remain in place.
While equity mutual funds continued to fall for the second straight month, attracting 14% lesser inflows at Rs 24,028 crore in January on top of a 6.2% decline in the previous month, amid market volatility and a cautious stance by investors, silver ETFs saw Rs 9,463 crore inflows, highlighting the rising interest of investors in exchange-traded products that are not equities. Collectively, these two funds saw inflows of Rs 33,503 crore in January.
On the other hand, silver ETFs saw an inflow of around 9,463.4 crores, taking the AUM to Rs 1.16 trillion during the reporting month.
Announcing the monthly data for January, Amfi chief executive Venkat Chalasani told reporters Tuesday that “the January data reflects a broadly steady trend in the industry despite ongoing global uncertainties and short-term market volatility. While the industry’s net AUM crossed Rs 81 trillion (Rs 81,01,305.58 crore), up from Rs 80,23,378.99 crore in December, average AUM for the reporting month crossed the Rs 82 trillion mark at Rs 82,01,174.62 crore.”
The industry as a whole returned to net inflows in January, with total flows turning positive at Rs 1.56 trillion, mainly led by debt schemes, which recorded net inflows of Rs 74,827 crore after seeing heavy withdrawals in December.
Despite two months of fall, he said equity inflows remained positive for the 59th consecutive month, while SIP contributions stayed largely stable, indicating continued investor participation and crossed the Rs 31,000 mark.
Folios rose to 26,63,13,561 with 50.6 lakh net folios being added during the month. Folios in stood at 26,12,53,836 in December, he said, adding of the total folios, retail folios were 20,43,09,553 as against 20,27,86,198 in December and the retail AUM stood at Rs 46,48,915 crore.
SIP assets stood at Rs 16.36 trillion in January 2026, accounting for 20.2% of total mutual fund assets and the inflows into SIPs was muted at Rs 31,002.33 crore, up from Rs 31,002 crore in the previous month.
A total of 12 schemes were launched in the month all open-ended and across categories, raising a total of Rs 1,939 crore, he said.
Commenting on the numbers, Anand Vardarajan, chief business officer at Tata Asset Management, said “precious metals continued to shine in the month with inflows into gold ETFs doubling in January over December, taking the year to date numbers to around Rs 61,000 crore.:
Ankur Punj of Equirus Wealth said the surge in gold ETFs reflects investors seeking safe-haven assets amid geopolitical risks, price corrections after the 2025 gains, and uncertainty over US Fed rate pauses. It echoes caution seen in smallcaps at peaks, where retail chased highs before corrections.
Meanwhile, thematic and index-linked ETFs also saw higher participation pulling in Rs 15,006 crore up from Rs 13,199 crore in December.
Within equity schemes, flexi-cap funds led inflows with net additions of Rs 7,672 crore, followed by mid-cap funds at Rs 3,185 crore and large and mid-cap funds at Rs 3,182 crore.
Overall, the industry recorded net inflows of Rs 1.56 trillion during the month, recovering from net outflows of Rs 66,591 crore in December, supported by inflows across multiple fund categories.
Debt funds rebounded with net inflows of Rs 74,827 crore, led by liquid segments. As of January, AUM of open-ended equity-oriented schemes stood at Rs 34.86 trillion, while open-ended debt-oriented schemes managed Rs 18.90 trillion. The numbers show equity funds continue to hold a larger share of industry assets despite month-to-month movement in flows.
Large-cap funds, however, saw a pickup in investor interest, with inflows rising to Rs 2,005 crore from Rs 1,567 crore a month earlier, the strongest level since September. Sectoral and thematic funds also edged higher to Rs 1,043 crore after remaining subdued in recent months.
ELSS funds continued to get outflows of Rs 594 crore, extending a multi-month trend, though the pace was lower than December. Dividend yield funds returned to marginal inflows after several months of redemptions, indicating selective positioning within equity segments.
At the same time, longer-duration and corporate bond segments continued to see withdrawals. Corporate bond funds reported outflows of Rs 11,473 crore, while gilt and dynamic bond categories also remained in the red, suggesting investors continued to favour shorter-tenure debt products.
On the massive spike in Gold ETF inflows, Nehal Meshram, a senior analyst at Morningstar Investment India, said, "part of the strength likely reflects fresh allocations at the start of the year, as investors rebalance portfolios and add hedges after a volatile period across risk assets. Gold ETFs continue to benefit from their positioning as a regulated, liquid, and cost-efficient way to hold gold versus physical formats, making them an easy “add-on” allocation during uncertain macro phases."
Inflows into gold ETFs remained moderate through much of last year, and began to pick up towards the end of 2025. Inflows rose to Rs 7,700 crore in October, softened to Rs 3,741.79 crore in November, before rebounding in December to close to Rs 12,000 crore.
“The sustained increase over the past two months suggests a clear shift in investor allocation strategies in favour of gold beyond multi asset funds,” she said.
A Balasubramanian, CEO of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC said, the ongoing rise in gold and silver has led to a sharp increase in demand for their ETFs as investors look for different avenues to gain exposure to precious metals. However, equities continue to remain the preferred asset class for investment from a long-term wealth creation point of view."
Similarly, Vikas Gupta of Omniscience Capital said, "investors continued allocating to gold ETFs at significantly elevated gold prices which might turn out to be a mistake in the long-term."
Saugata Chatterjee, president of Nippon India Mutual Fund, said the key takeaway from the latest numbers is the breadth of participation—investors are clearly using mutual funds across asset classes to meet distinct needs: long-term growth, liquidity management and portfolio diversification.
Varun Gupta of Groww Mutual Fund said despite a volatile month for equity markets, the AUM expanded in January, highlighting the resilience of investor participation, while Vaiibhavv Chugh of Abakkus Mutual Fund said, the last 18 months or so have been testing the patience however the investors and partners have shown tremendous resilience which in itself is a great development.