New Delhi, Nov. 11 -- On the face of it, a recent survey of the Indian population's awareness of investment products, conducted by the country's capital markets regulator, appears to be good news. In 2025, 53% of respondents (rural and urban) said that although they had not invested in securities instruments, they were aware of at least one such product, such as mutual funds.

A decade ago, a similar survey found that just 28.4% of respondents were aware of mutual funds. This was only for urban residents. If the rural population were included, the number would have been lower. However, awareness does not necessarily translate into actual investments-only 9.5% of Indians invest in securities market products.

The Securities and Exchange Bo...