The abandoned or unclaimed money lying in mutual funds rose nearly 10% to Rs 3,811 crore in 2025-26 from Rs 3,452 crore last year. The rise is driven by a sharp increase in unclaimed dividend amounts, according to the annual report revealed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
The report showcased that unclaimed dividend amounts increased 16% to Rs 2,689 crore in FY26 from Rs 2,324 crore in FY25. On the other hand, unclaimed redemption amounts declined marginally by 1% to Rs 1,122 crore from Rs 1,128 crore.
Outdated investor details is among the primary reasons behind unclaimed dividends and redemption proceeds. What happens is that Investors change their phone numbers, email addresses or residential addresses without updating these details with their asset management company (AMC) or registrar. Another popular reason that leads to unclaimed funds is when the bank account linked to a mutual fund folio is closed or changed without updating the bank mandate. In such cases, dividend or redemption payments may not reach the investor.
SEBI and the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) have advised investors to check fund house websites or use MITRA, a platform that is designed to help trace inactive and unclaimed mutual fund folios.
Mutual Fund industry AUM rises 12.2%
Despite the significant rise in unclaimed money, the mutual fund industry still went on to grow in FY27. Total assets under management (AUM) grew 12.2% to Rs 73.7 lakh crore by the end of March 2026.
The number of unique mutual fund investors also rose by 13.2%, taking the total to 6.1 crore from 5.4 crore a year earlier. Individual investors accounted for 97.7% of the industry’s 27.4 crore folios and held 58.3% of total AUM.
Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) remained a major driver of retail participation. The number of SIP accounts rose 3.9% to 10.45 crore, while the average net monthly SIP contribution increased 25.8% to a record Rs 16,413 crore.
Gold ETFs see sharp rise in inflows
Passive investment products also gained traction during the year, with index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recording total net inflows of Rs 2.1 lakh crore.
Gold ETFs saw particularly strong demand, with net allocations rising 4.6 times to Rs 68,868 crore. SEBI’s report attributed the increased interest partly to heightened global geopolitical risks and concerns around domestic inflation.
Meanwhile, gross resource mobilisation by mutual funds increased 14.9% during FY26. However, a 16.5% rise in liquidations and redemptions led to net inflows declining 9.7% to Rs 7.4 lakh crore.
The number of SEBI-registered AMCs also increased to 54 by March 31, 2026, from 46 a year earlier.
