Outstanding SIP accounts at All Time High; Net Account Growth Hits Near Zero: ValueMetrics
According to the ValueMetrics report on Mutual Fund & SIF - Flow Meter (June 2026), the mutual fund industry delivered a steady performance in May 2026. Total AUM stood at Rs 81.6 lakh crore. Active equity mutual funds recorded gross inflows of Rs 57,604 crore in May 2026 while net inflows from Active Pure Equity and Hybrid funds combined stood at Rs 33,468 crore. Hybrid funds (excluding arbitrage) attracted Rs 4,862 crore in net inflows.
Gold ETFs saw net outflows of Rs 725 crore in May 2026, reversing the strong inflow trend seen earlier in the year, while active equity net flows stood at Rs 22,908 crore.
On the SIP front, the long-term story remains compelling. The monthly SIP book has grown nearly 10x over the last decade — from Rs 3,189 crore in May 2016 to Rs 30,954 crore in May 2026 — surviving multiple disruptions including Demonetisation, Covid, the Russia-Ukraine war, and global tariff headwinds. Long-term investing culture in India is clearly deepening.
However, a closer look at the data reveals a cautionary trend. Total outstanding SIP accounts stood at 1,047 lakh in May 2026, broadly flat month-on-month (April 2026: 1,044 lakh), though up 15.5% year-on-year (May 2025: 906 lakh).
New SIP registrations in May stood at 54.2 lakh. Against this, discontinuations and tenure completions were 51.7 lakh — a thin gap that signals rising churn within the SIP base. Net new SIP additions recovered to just 2.5 lakh in May 2026, after near-zero net additions of -0.6 lakh each in both March and April 2026.
Net SIP additions were as high as 35.3 lakh in July 2024 and 18.7 lakh in January 2026, making the recent trend a notable softening. While gross registrations remain healthy at 5.2% of outstanding accounts, discontinuations at 5.0% have nearly caught up — raising questions about the stickiness of newer investors.
SIP AUM stood at Rs 17.12 lakh crore in May 2026, up 1.5% month-on-month (April 2026: Rs 16.86 lakh crore) and a strong 17.1% year-on-year (May 2025: Rs 14.61 lakh crore). Monthly SIP contributions at Rs 30,954 crore remained above the Rs 30,000 crore mark for the third consecutive month, marginally lower by 0.5% month-on-month (April 2026: Rs 31,115 crore) but up 16% year-on-year (May 2025: Rs 26,688 crore).
The flows are strong — but the net account growth tells a different story, and that is the number the industry needs to watch closely.
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