Equity inflows surge over 70% in January — SIP contributions again hit record high

The equity mutual funds inflows surged over 70 percent month on month (MoM) to Rs 12,523  crore in January, data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) said. In December, equity mutual funds witnessed a net inflow of Rs 7,280.4 crore. The Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) has once again hit record high in the month of December, while witnessing inflow of Rs 13,856 crore.

This is the 23rd straight month when the inflows into equity funds have remained positive.

Akhil Chaturvedi, chief business officer, Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company, said, “Strong flows for the month supported by SIP inflows, despite a volatile month with markets being subdued the net positive flows is sign of increasing maturity of investors to continue their allocations in equity mutual funds.”

The hybrid fund inflow stood at Rs 4,492 crore versus Rs 2,255.3 crore inflow (MoM). The liquid fund outflow was recorded at Rs 5,041.7 crore, while ETF outflow stood at Rs 1,709 crore. The credit risk outflow came in at Rs 449.3 crore.

The corporate bond fund outflow stood at Rs 2,333.4 crore versus Rs 713 crore outflow month-on-month. The total Assets Under Management (AUM) came in at Rs 39.62 lakh cr versus Rs 39.88 lakh crore (MoM).

Equity AUM stood at Rs 15.06 lakh crore, with debt AUM at Rs 12.37 lakh crore. The AUM has remained in a similar range, mirroring the flat returns by the benchmark index since August 2022.

Commenting on the data, Gopal Kavalireddi, Head of Research at FYERS said, "Despite the persistent selling by FIIs since the end of 2021, domestic investors and retail countered the negative impact of outflows through robust infusion into the equity markets through systematic investment plans. While reallocation between categories was expected due to changing interest rate environment, equity investments continue to be the dominant choice for investors.”

The total debt scheme outflow was reported at Rs 10,316.1 crore in January. The large cap fund inflow stood at Rs 716 crore.

The small-cap funds stood at Rs 2,255.85 crore followed by large and mid-cap funds at Rs 1,901.99 crore and multi-cap funds at Rs 1,773.02 crore. Index funds saw inflows of Rs 5,813.16 crore. On the other hand, gold exchange-traded funds continued to see outflows at Rs 199.43 crore.