If you ask a financial planner for that one big change post Covid-19, the likely answer would be financialisation of savings. As investors started seeking better returns on investment, equities gained massive traction.
In January 2020, the average assets under management (AAUM) of the mutual funds industry stood at Rs28.18 lakh crore. AUM of equity and hybrid schemes together was close to Rs11.50 lakh crore. Cut to October 2025. The AAUM of mutual funds stood at Rs79.79 lakh crore, with AUM of equity and hybrid schemes at nearly Rs46 lakh crore.
While existing players have scaled up with multiple new schemes to attract the new and particularly risk-taking investors, over half a dozen new asset management companies have started operations in the past year or so. The Wealth Company debuted with four active new fund offers (NFOs) in October, raising close to Rs2,000 crore. Angel One had AAUM of Rs364 crore in the July-September quarter, Capitalmind had Rs69 crore, and Unifi MF had Rs1,196 crore, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). Jio BlackRock AMC had Rs12,890 crore in average AUM, after having raised Rs17,800 crore through its debut new fund offers.
Several others are in various stages of launching their mutual fund operations. Deepak Shenoy-backed Capitalmind launched its first NFO this September while Nuvama Wealth Management received SEBI approval in October to launch its own mutual fund.
The Indian financial service space is evolving into a dynamic phase, says Madhu Lunawat, founder, MD and CEO of The Wealth Company. “Greater participation by new players ultimately benefits investors,” she says. “Competition drives innovation, enhances transparency, improves service quality and broadens product choices. This expansion ensures customers gain access to better designed products that suit their risk-return profiles.”
On the one hand, the overall economic growth and demographics are strong and retail participation, which is at a low base, is rapidly increasing, says Sid Swaminathan, MD and CEO of Jio BlackRock. “Just the sheer number of companies you are seeing in public markets is robust,” he says. “The liquidity in these names is also increasing. So, you are seeing much more variety and robustness coming in.”
The mutual fund industry is still dominated by the top ten players—including SBI MF, ICICI Prudential AMC, HDFC AMC, Kotak Mahindra AMC and Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC—which account for around 75 per cent of the industry AUMs. However, the market is growing and people from smaller towns are also investing. This growing pie presents new opportunities, say fund houses.
According to AMFI, assets from B30 (beyond top 30) markets have increased from Rs12.59 lakh crore in September 2024 to Rs14.50 lakh crore in September 2025. Notably, 86 per cent of the assets from B30 locations were in equity schemes as of September 2025, compared with 55 per cent in the top 30 locations.
“True growth lies in empowering investors in tier 2 and tier 3 cities with the same quality of products and advice as their metro counterparts,” says Lunawat. “With our network of over 110 cities and over 450 franchise partners, we are building awareness, education, and access points.”
IndusInd International Holdings (IIHL), which is looking to become a global financial services major by 2030, recently picked up a 60 per cent stake in Invesco Asset Management India. “This is the most opportune time, where India, on the back of rising income levels and favourable demographics, offers enormous investment prospects to all Indians,” says IIHL chairman Ashok Hinduja.
Meanwhile, Shriram Asset Management, in which South Africa’s Sanlam Group picked up a 23 per cent stake this year, also sees significant opportunities in emerging geographies, especially where the Shriram group already enjoys deep customer relationships, says Kartik Jain, MD and CEO, Shriram AMC.
“By leveraging digital platforms, partner distributors and the larger Shriram ecosystem, we aim to widen access and bring long-term investment solutions to a much broader base of Indian investors,” he says.
Data and tech are also a big focus for Jio BlackRock, where it has introduced BlackRock’s investment analytics and risk management platform Aladdin, which allows it to innovate and manufacture funds at scale.
For The Wealth Company, the edge comes from the group’s strong private equity foundations, where due diligence, promoter intent evaluation, forensic checks and sectoral insights form the core of decision-making, says Lunawat.