



Direct retail share in cash market falls to lowest in a decade
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The share of direct retail participation in India’s largest stock exchange's cash turnover has fallen to its lowest in a decade, dragged down by risk aversion amid underperforming equity benchmarks, the rise of mutual funds and reallocation towards initial public offerings.
Direct retail contribution as a percentage of gross turnover–buy plus sell volumes–fell to 33.6% in 2025, according to the data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE). This category of investors directly buys stocks rather than investing through mutual funds.
Individual investors accounted for nearly 43% of the overall contraction in cash market turnover during the year, while the share of proprietary traders rose to a 21-year high of 29.7%. Retail turnover stood at ₹166.56 trillion, while proprietary traders, including high-frequency traders (HFTs), contributed ₹147.43 trillion to the total gross turnover of ₹496.11 trillion, showed the data.
Total turnover was down 14.5% from 2024. "One is the risk, with cost averaging having not worked last year as it did in the previous years since the pandemic, leading to increased risk-aversion," said independent market analyst Ambareesh Baliga.
"Also, it's likely that retail is shifting from the direct mode to trading through mutual funds." Nilesh Shah, managing director at Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co., attributes it to the rise of HFTs or algo traders, alongside a shift to participation through mutual funds. "While the MF cult is growing, direct retail has been losing to sophisticated HFTs who have the tools and deeper pockets to prevail over the former in trading." Indeed, the number of folios in equity-oriented schemes stood at 178.48 million as of the end of
. Read on livemint.com