Equity mutual funds maintain positive momentum for 14th consecutive month in April
New Delhi:
Equity mutual funds maintained a positive momentum for the 14th consecutive month with net earnings of Rs 15,890 crore in April amid heavy volatility in the stock market and continued selling by foreign portfolio investors.
This was much lower than the record net inflows of Rs 28,463 crore seen in the previous month by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) data.
Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director- Manager Research, Morningstar India, said the lower quantum of net inflows compared to the previous month can be attributed to investors being a little cautious given the ongoing challenges in the investment environment.
Akhil Chaturvedi, Chief Business Officer, Motilal Oswal AMC said that considering the intensity of volatility being very high, it would be interesting to see the ongoing investment trend, and the positive trend is expected to continue further.
Equity schemes are witnessing net inflows since March 2021, with markets improving after the second wave of COVID-19, highlighting the positive sentiment among investors.
Earlier, such schemes had seen outflows for eight consecutive months from July 2020 to February 2021, causing a loss of Rs 46,791 crore.
All equity-oriented categories received net inflows in April, with the sectoral/thematic fund category being the biggest gainer with a net inflow of Rs 3,843 crore. This segment also saw the launch of a new fund – ICICI Prudential Housing Opportunities Fund, which raised Rs 3,130 crore.
This was followed by large- and mid-cap funds with net investments of over Rs 2,000 crore.
“Despite volatility in markets and fears around macros globally and locally, it is a good trend to see continued positive inflows in equities. Though lower than last month, which could be due to NFO allocation, SIP The flow is strong, which is also very positive,” Chaturvedi said.
Monthly SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) contribution declined to Rs 11,863 crore in April from Rs 12,328 crore in March.
However, the number of SIP accounts stood at 5.39 crore in April. 11.29 lakh SIP accounts were added during the month under review.
Apart from equities, the debt segment saw a net inflow of Rs 69,883 crore in April, up from the Rs 1.5 lakh crore net outflow seen in the previous month.
Further, Gold Exchange Traded Funds experienced a net inflow of Rs 1,100 crore in the month under review.
Overall, the mutual fund industry reported a net inflow of Rs 72,846 crore last month as compared to a net outflow of Rs 69,883 crore in March.
“It has been a good start to the new financial year (FY23) with net inflows for the overall mutual fund schemes in positive territory and positive equity inflows for 12 consecutive months. Despite market volatility in April 2022, retail Investors rely on the mutual fund asset class, which continues to strengthen,” said NS Venkatesh, chief executive of AMFI.
The inflows pushed the average assets under management of the industry to an all-time high of Rs 38.89 lakh crore at the end of April, from Rs 37.7 lakh crore at the end of March.
Venkatesh said that going forward, mutual fund investors continue with their SIP mode of investment on the equity side, and reinvest their savings in debt funds for shorter duration schemes due to the recent rate hike by RBI. allocate.