Women investors are betting big on gold. Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) made up 16.4% of women's passive fund portfolios in March 2026, up sharply from 6.4% in March 2025, the AMFI-Crisil Factbook 2026 showed. The gain came largely at the cost of index funds, whose share in women's passive holdings slipped to 51.1% from 68% over the same period.
Retail investors as a whole saw their share of gold ETF assets more than triple to 14.9% in fiscal 2026 from 4.6% in fiscal 2021.
"Gold and silver mutual funds emerged as preferred hedging tools, delivering both liquidity and strategic diversification," AMFI Chief Executive Venkat Nageswar Chalasani said, adding that the trend reflects investors "moving beyond simple equity-only optimism toward nuanced risk management and disciplined asset allocation."
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Gold and silver attracted more inflows than equity ETFs in fiscal 2026, a first for the category, Crisil Intelligence President Priti Arora said, driven by "global uncertainty and precious-metal rallies."
Gold ETFs' overall share of total passive fund AUM climbed to 12.5% in March 2026 from 5.2% a year earlier, with total assets reaching Rs 1.71 lakh crore and a five-year compound annual growth rate of 64.7% since March 2021.
Gold ETF takers are on the rise and its now comparable to equity funds.
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Gold ETF net inflows stood at Rs 0.69 lakh crore in fiscal 2026, more than double the cumulative inflows of around Rs 30,213 crore across the previous five fiscals combined.
Women investors' overall mutual fund holdings have grown at a broader scale too. Their total AUM rose to Rs 15.88 lakh crore in March 2026 from Rs 5.84 lakh crore in March 2021, an increase of Rs 10.04 lakh crore over five years.
Silver ETF Assets Surge 4X In A Year
Silver ETFs, which sit within the report's "Other ETFs" category, saw assets surge 4.2 times compared with March 2025. A sharp rise in silver prices, growing industrial demand and safe-haven buying amid equity market uncertainty drove the rally. Silver ETFs accounted for nearly 27% of total net inflows into the Other ETFs category in fiscal 2026.
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