Mutual Fund Cash Holdings Rise to ₹1.83 Lakh Crore in September

Key Takeaways:

• Mutual fund cash holdings stood at approximately ₹1.83 lakh crore in September, according to ACE MF data. 
• Cash represented 3.98% of total assets, up from 3.80% in August, while equity AUM stood at ₹45.83 lakh crore. 
• SBI Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund and PPFAS Mutual Fund held the three largest cash positions by value. 

Indian mutual funds increased the proportion of assets held in cash during September 2026, with aggregate cash holdings reaching approximately ₹1.83 lakh crore. 

ACE MF data cited by The Economic Times showed cash accounting for 3.98% of total assets, compared with 3.80% in August. Equity assets under management stood at around ₹45.83 lakh crore during September. 

The data covered about 51 asset management companies. Six fund houses held more than ₹10,000 crore each in cash, while 24 AMCs had cash positions exceeding ₹1,000 crore. 

SBI Mutual Fund had the largest absolute cash holding at ₹22,543 crore, representing 2.98% of its total AUM. 

HDFC Mutual Fund followed with ₹21,968 crore, while PPFAS Mutual Fund held ₹21,680 crore. 

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund's cash holding was ₹15,962 crore, equivalent to 2.90% of its total assets. Quant Mutual Fund held ₹15,048 crore and Axis Mutual Fund ₹12,820 crore. 

Cash levels vary considerably between fund houses because the figures aggregate schemes with different mandates, investment opportunities and liquidity requirements. 

A higher cash position does not necessarily imply a negative market view. Schemes under Mutual fund may temporarily hold cash because of recent investor inflows, pending portfolio deployment, redemption requirements or individual stock-selection decisions. 

For PPFAS Mutual Fund, cash, debt and money-market instruments and arbitrage positions together represented about 9.77% according to its monthly factsheet, taking the measure below 10% for the first time in the dataset cited by ET. 

The September industry data therefore points to a modest increase in the overall cash ratio, while the absolute positions remain concentrated among some of India's largest equity-oriented fund houses.