February also saw the 24th consecutive month of decline in mutual fund schemes. (Representative)
New Delhi:
Equity mutual funds attracted Rs 15,685 crore in February, the highest net investment in nine months despite significant volatility in stock markets.
This is higher than the inflow of Rs 12,546 crore seen in January and Rs 7,303 crore in December.
According to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), February also marked the 24th consecutive month of growth in equity-oriented mutual fund schemes.
Supported by healthy inflows into equity funds, the mutual fund industry saw inflows of Rs 9,575 crore in February.
As per the data, total net inflows in equity schemes stood at Rs 15,685 crore. This was the highest level since May 2022, when equity funds attracted Rs 18,529 crore.
Gopal Kavalireddy, Head of Research, FYERS, said investors continue to invest in a disciplined manner while countering the volatility in the stock markets arising out of foreign portfolio investor (FPI) outflows.
Also, the contribution from SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) has been over Rs 13,000 crore on an average every month since October 2022.
Among equity funds, thematic or sectoral funds saw an inflow of Rs 3,856 crore, followed by small-cap funds (Rs 2,246 crore) and multi-cap funds (Rs 1,977 crore).Apart from equity, index funds continue to attract investors with total inflows of Rs 6,244 crore.
Besides this, Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) infused Rs 165 crore.
“With interest rates expected to rise from current levels, outflows from debt funds continue as investors churn their allocation between short and long term funds,” Kavalireddy said.
Overall, debt funds saw net outflow of Rs 13,815 crore last month as compared to outflow of Rs 10,316 crore in January.
Liquid fund outflows were the highest during the month under review at Rs 11,304 crore, followed by ultra short duration funds at Rs 2,430 crore and low duration funds at Rs 1,904 crore.
“With inflation high after two months of calm, the RBI is wary of the evolving situation and may opt to hike rates in the upcoming policy meetings. As the US Federal Reserve has decided to continue raising ) vowed to contain inflation, the terminal interest rate could reach 6 per cent, leading to further flight of capital from markets outside the US,” he said.
The Assets Under Management (AUM) of the 42-player mutual fund industry declined marginally to Rs 39.46 lakh crore at the end of February from Rs 39.62 lakh crore at the end of January.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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