Sebi Survey 2025: Mutual Fund Awareness Soars In India But Still Not Enough! Here’s Why

India’s financial journey over the last decade has often been described as a quiet revolution. Markets grew bigger, mutual funds’ assets grew rapidly, and investing became easier through digital onboarding and simplified processes. But the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Investor Survey 2025 shows a key truth: awareness of market products has risen sharply, but actual participation is still very limited.

As per the survey, 63 per cent of households are aware of at least one securities product, that equals around 21.3 crore households. In terms of visibility, mutual funds and ETFs lead the list: 53 per cent households are aware of mutual funds/ETFs (exchange traded funds), and 49 per cent are aware of equities. However, awareness drops steeply for other products namely, derivatives, REITs, bonds and AIFs remain below 15 per cent.

At first glance, this awareness looks like a breakthrough. Over the past decade, the scale of India’s market growth has been dramatic. As mentioned in the Sebi’s survey report, BSE equity market capitalisation, which once stood at Rs 101 lakh crore in FY2014-15, surged to nearly Rs 4,701 lakh crore by October 2025. At the same time, mutual fund assets under management rose massively from Rs 12 lakh crore in 2015 to Rs 79 lakh crore in September 2025. While these numbers reflect the growing presence of market-linked investing in India, but as we shift from awareness to actual participation and investment numbers, the picture changes.

Sebi Investor Survey 2025 highlights that only 9.5 per cent households are invested in securities market products, even though 63 per cent are aware. So, while India has seen a multifold rise in market capitalisation and AUM, household participation is still small. As the survey notes, 9.5 per cent of households equals about 3.21 crore households, out of India’s 33.72 crore household population.

Participation is also concentrated in a few products. About 6.7 per cent of Indian household's report holding mutual funds/ETFs while around 5.3 per cent hold direct equities. This shows that even in the most widely known categories, investing has not yet spread to the majority.

Where you live also matters greatly. Penetration is far higher in the biggest cities. In the top nine metros, 18 per cent of households hold mutual funds and 14 per cent hold equities. In rural India, the numbers fall sharply- just 4 per cent for mutual funds and 3 per cent for equities.

Sebi’s survey makes an important observation about aware households that still do not invest: “familiarity exists, but deeper understanding and confidence remain key barriers to market entry.” 

Even among those who do invest, there is overlap, but not complete. Sebi finds that among households invested in either mutual funds/ETF or stocks, about 32 per cent invest in both. Among the rest, 42 per cent invest only in mutual funds/ETF, while 26 per cent are only invested in stocks and not mutual funds/ETF.

The risk preference of investors is also clear. Mutual fund and ETF investors show similar patterns: 74 per cent prefer low risk, while only 9 per cent are comfortable with high risk. This suggests the typical investor entering mutual funds is not chasing extreme returns but is looking for stability and confidence.

In short, Sebi Investor Survey 2025 suggests India’s investing story is not just about how big markets have become but about how much work remains to bring households from awareness to action