Mutual funds under ₹100 crore: January–March 2026

The long tail, counted

Of the 1,762 schemes we could match to AMFI's average-AUM figures for January–March 2026, 403 averaged less than ₹100 crore. That is 22.9% of the schemes. Between them they held ₹16,544 crore, or 0.23% of the money.

The figures are AMFI's scheme-wise average AUM (AAUM) for the quarter, covering all of a scheme's plans together. The 1,762 are schemes we could match by name to a fund in our data with a Direct plan or an exchange listing. Domestic fund-of-funds are not in the list, because AMFI reports their assets separately.

Where the money sits

The median scheme averaged ₹603 crore. Fewer than one scheme in ten, the 172 above ₹10,000 crore, held more than two-thirds of the money. The 839 schemes under ₹500 crore, almost half the count, held 1.78%.

Which kinds are small

Passive products dominate the small end: ETFs and index funds are 278 of the 403. Among equity ETFs, 28 of 58 averaged under ₹100 crore.

Active equity funds are rarely that small, 36 of 566. Only 15 of 244 sectoral and thematic funds were, despite how many of them have been launched.

New, or closed

The main reason a scheme is small is that it has not been around long. Measured from the first NAV in its history to 31 March 2026:

• 134 of the 403 were less than a year old
• 118 were one to three years old
• 73 were three to five years old
• 78 were more than five years old

So 252, about five in eight, started within the last three years. A quarterly average also understates a scheme launched during the quarter: the 58 schemes that began in January–March 2026 were averaged over days on which they did not yet exist.

A second group cannot grow by design. Thirty of the small schemes are closed-ended: 21 fixed maturity or fixed-term plans, which hold bonds to a set date, and 9 of the 14 small tax-saving (ELSS) funds, which are closed series from Sundaram and Bank of India. None of them takes new money.

That leaves the more telling group: open-ended equity, debt and hybrid funds more than five years old and still under ₹100 crore. There are 37 of them: funds that have been open to new money for years and have not attracted much of it.

What this does not tell you

Small is not bad. A small fund can be run well. Size changes what a fund may charge and how easily it trades, not the quality of its decisions.

These are averages. A fund that grew quickly in March shows a low January–March figure.

The list has gaps. Another 265 names on AMFI's list, holding ₹9,23,074 crore, did not match a fund in our data, most of them large debt and hybrid funds. AMFI's per-scheme figures also add up to only 91% of ICICI Prudential's reported total for the quarter, so seven ICICI Prudential schemes that appear under ₹100 crore are left out as doubtful.

Where to go from here

For the other end of the scale, see the largest mutual fund schemes in January–March 2026. The guide to what a fund really costs explains why size and expense ratios are linked, and index funds and ETFs covers the products that make up most of the small end. The screener can filter any category by size.