SEBI study: Proprietary traders outperform FPIs and MFs in FY26 derivatives
99% of the gross profit of FPIs and Proprietary traders came from algo trading
In the fiscal year 2026, proprietary traders in India's derivatives market outperformed foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), mutual funds, and corporates, according to the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) latest study. Proprietary traders recorded gross trading profits of ₹44,483 crore, a slight decrease of 3% from the previous year's ₹45,955 crore.
In contrast, FPIs saw their profits plummet by 55% to ₹13,896 crore, while corporate profits fell by 22% to ₹8,092 crore, and mutual fund profits dropped by 54% to ₹2,595 crore. Partnership firms and LLPs also experienced a 38% decline in profits to ₹2,953 crore.
Interestingly, individual traders, despite being the only major category to record an aggregate loss, still managed to see an improvement in their average profit margins. The average profit among profit-makers rose 22% to ₹1.22 lakh in FY26, compared to ₹1 lakh in the previous year. However, average losses increased by 11% to ₹1.47 lakh, still 21% higher than the average profits. This disparity in losses and profits persisted throughout the FY22-FY26 period.
The study also revealed that algorithmic trading played a dominant role, particularly among the top-performing entities. Among proprietary traders, 323 out of 432 used algorithms, contributing to ₹43,420 crore of their ₹44,483 crore gross profit. Similarly, among FPIs, 372 out of 693 used algorithms, accounting for ₹10,740 crore of their ₹13,896 crore profit.
Written by urgent.news from Hindu BusinessLine's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
