Kolkata, July 28 (Reporter) Enhanced transparency and investor protection regulations have boosted investors' confidence in mutual funds as a retirement vehicle, ICRA Analytics said today. The Assets under Management (AUM) of Retirement Mutual Funds has increased by 226.25 per cent in the last five years to touch Rs 31,973 crore in June 2025, up from Rs 9,800 crore in June 2020. Increasing awareness about the importance of financial planning among people and the need to build a corpus for retirement coupled with higher life expectancy and the surge in healthcare costs seems to be encouraging the aging populations in India to increasingly look for retirement-focused investment products, including mutual funds. A retirement mutual fund is a specialised solution-oriented mutual fund whose objective is to ensure that the investor has a comfortable and secured post-retirement life. Such funds have exposure to both equity and debt where the equity segment fosters wealth appreciation while the debt segment ensures wealth preservation and stability. A retirement mutual fund helps provide a regular stream of income when one retires and there is no regular monthly income and comes with a lock in period of 5 years or till retirement, the report said. “Equity mutual funds have captured significant inflows due to optimism about market recovery and growth, which is appealing for long-term retirement portfolios. This apart, enhanced transparency and investor protection regulations have boosted investor confidence in mutual funds as a retirement vehicle,” Ashwini Kumar, senior vice president and Head Market Data, ICRA Analytics, said. The total number of folios under such schemes has increased by 18.21 per cent at 30.09 lakh in June 2025, up from 25.46 lakh in June 2020. The number of schemes, which stood at 24 in June 2020, has increased to 29 in June 2025. The average compound annualized returns on these funds stood at 6.79 pc, 15.72 pc and 14.64 pc for a 1-year, 3-year and 5-year period respectively. The rise of user-friendly digital platforms and robo-advisors has made retirement investing more accessible. “These tools offer personalized portfolio recommendations based on age, risk tolerance, and retirement goals, encouraging more participation,” Kumar added...////...