MF inflows jump to ₹14,000 cr in Sept; SIPs touch new high

Investments in equity mutual funds more than doubled to ₹14,100 crore in September against ₹6,120 crore in the previous month, with stock markets showing resilience in the last couple of months.

Inflows into open-ended equity mutual funds have remained in the positive zone for the 19th straight months.

Investments via systematic investment plans (SIPs) jumped to an all-time high of ₹12,976.34 crore in September, up from ₹12,693.45 crore in the previous month, according to the data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) on Monday.

Small investors have shown consistent faith in mutual fund investments despite the markets reacting to inflationary factors and events such as interest rate hikes in the last few months, said N.S. Venkatesh, chief executive, Amfi.

“Investors have noticed that India has managed its affairs well relative to global peers and domestic buying support for equity has also helped mitigate foreign portfolio investor (FPI) outflows. We expect this healthy trend in net equity inflows to sustain going forward,” said Akhil Chaturvedi, chief business officer, Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund.

All categories within the equity segment saw inflows. Thematic or sectoral funds saw the highest inflows at ₹4,419 crore followed by ₹2,401 crore in the flexi-cap and ₹2,151 crore in the mid-cap categories. Healthy inflows in thematic/sectoral funds could be attributed to the three new fund launches by the asset management companies during September.

Mutual fund houses mopped up ₹7,257 crore via new fund offers last month.

“The increase in inflows in equities could be attributed to the performance of the Indian market as it has shown resilience in the last couple of months and outperformed the major global market by encouraging margins, thanks to its robust economic outlook vis-a-vis other emerging markets,” said Sanjiv Bajaj, joint chairman and managing director, Bajaj Capital Ltd.

Overall, the net asset under the management of the mutual fund industry fell to ₹38.42 trillion in September from ₹39.33 trillion in August.

The mutual fund industry saw total net outflows of ₹40,123.95 in September in open-ended schemes compared with net inflows of ₹63,843.47 crore seen in the previous month. In September, the debt segment saw outflows of ₹65,372 crore compared with net inflows of ₹49,165 crore in August.